


Miraculous: Civil War

by Flipididers63



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death, small depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-09-28 16:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17186474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flipididers63/pseuds/Flipididers63
Summary: Chat Noir visits Marinette every night after Evilistrator, but wants it to be something more. He saves Marinette, who became the hostage of an akuma, and finds out who she is. Everything is great, until the vision from Hawkmoth comes along. Will Marinette be cured? Will Paris survive? Will Ladybug and Chat Noir continue protecting Paris, or will Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee have to take over?





	1. The Taker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snow_Leopard_777](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Leopard_777/gifts).



> This is my first fanfiction, please enjoy! And if you have any suggestions I’d like to hear those too!

Marinette, having turned 17 two weeks ago, was on her balcony, lounging on one of her chairs, all bundled up in a blanket, as she watched Paris settle down for sleep. The Eiffel Tower was gleaming with lights, shining even brighter than the stars. Tikki, her Kwami, was sleeping downstairs, and Marinette had promised to join her later. Over the past few months, Chat Noir would come to say hello and chat for a little while, and even though it was a cold night, Marinette hoped that he would still come. So far she was still waiting. It was getting late and she would have to come in soon. Just a little bit longer, she thought to herself.  
But her body was begging for sleep after a long day of work. She was fighting to stay awake, looking forward to her late night chat, but eventually her restlessness would get the best of her. She watched the stars as they twinkled in a sort of hypnotic, gentle way, slowly making Marinette more and more sleepy. Before she knew it, her mind caught her off guard, and her eyelids slowly closed, putting her into a deep sleep.

. . .

It was a cold spring night, which was odd, because spring's were always warm, and it was raining, so Chat Noir borrowed a raincoat from Gorilla, his bodyguard. Today was his solo patrol, so he could do whatever he wanted. He was almost done with his patrol, and because it was so cold and wet he decided not to visit Marinette that night. He continued hopping from roof to roof, hopping anything would go wrong, anything to make his patrol more interesting. But apparently Hawk Moth was taking a night off, because nothing happened. So for the rest of his patrol, he sat on top of a roof, overlooking the beautiful night lights in Paris.  
When his patrol was finally over, he stood up and almost started to leap away. Almost. He heard a shiver, followed by a moan. He looked over to find that he was only a few houses away from the Dupain-Cheng’s. When he looked a little closer, what he saw frightened him more than anything he had seen so far. What he saw was Marinette Dupain-Cheng huddled up underneath a blanket on one of her lounge chairs. She must have fallen asleep because she wasn’t moving. Chat stared in horror as more and more rain drenched Marinette. Chat had mixed feelings for Marinette because he visited her every night from the time of the Evillustrator. They went to the same school, with the same classes. They were the same age, and liked the same things. Marinette is just a friend, he would say to himself. But over the last few months, she had become more than just a friend. They had a special bond between them that you couldn’t have with just a friend. Chat Noir had been trying to convince himself otherwise, but he had a crush on Marinette. Not just for her appearance, but for her kindness, her humor, and… ‘Stop it Chat Noir’, he chided, ‘Don’t get your hopes up’. He leaped onto Marinette’s balcony, and gently picked her up, not caring about getting wet.  
“Oh princess! How do you get yourself into these types of messes?” he said. Marinette was shivering so bad it scared him. Chat climbed into her room and closed the hatch. First things first, stop her from getting hypothermia. He searched through her closet, and found a pair of sweatpants and a large t-shirt. He put the t-shirt on Marinette, and tore off her other shirt from underneath. The sweatpants were impossible, so he closed his eyes, took of her leggings, and put the pants on her. Next he grabbed a towel from her bathroom, and began to dry her off. He took her hair out of it’s ponytails, and brushed her hair. He silently gasped in awe. ‘Why doesn't she ever wear her hair down?’ he wondered. Marinette is beautiful, but while her hair is down, she is breathtakingly beautiful. He smiled to himself, wishing she were awake right now. He kissed her forehead, and set her down on her bed. She shivered, so Chat quickly grabbed another blanket and wrapped it around her. Chat sat down on her bed, slowly rocking her back and forth, back and forth, until he could feel even himself getting sleepy. When Marinette finally stopped shivering, Chat put her under her covers in her bed, and kissed her on her cheek.  
“Sweet dreams, princess.” he said. And he leaped out of her room and started heading home.

. . .

When Marinette woke up, she was confused. She never fell asleep in this blanket. She never fell asleep in her bed. Why was her hair down? Why was she wearing different clothes? And why did her cheek and forehead feel warm?  
“Tikki?” she called.  
“Yes Marinette?” Tikki responded, sleepily yawning.  
“Tikki did I fall asleep in my bed?”  
Tikki frowned. “I don’t know, I fell asleep right after you went onto the balcony.”  
“Marinette!” called Mrs. Dupain-Chien.”Your going to be late for school!”  
“Coming Maman!” she squeaked.  
“Don’t sweat it Marinette, you were probably too tired to remember going back into your bed.” Said Tikki.  
“Your probably right Tikki.” said Marinette as she ran downstairs.

. . .

“Girl, what happened to you?” said Alya.  
Marinette gave her quizzical look. “What do you mean, im fine.” But even as she said it she knew it wasn’t true. She was confused about last night and for some reason she felt strangely cold, even though she had a thick coat on.  
“Girl, your lips are bluer than a smurf and your shivering like crazy!” said Alya. Alya made her go to the nurse, who diagnosed her with hypothermia, and said she needed to go home and get some rest.  
“Tikki what am I supposed to do?” she said when she got to her room. “It’s my patrol night! I can’t make Chat Noir do another solo patrol, that’s just selfish!” she complained.  
“Marinette you need to calm down, Chat Noir will be fine doing it another night, and he especially won’t want you getting out of bed if he knew you had hypothermia. I’m sure paris will be fine one night without Ladybug.”  
Marinette sighed. “Your right Tikki, one night can’t hurt.” But she didn’t know how wrong she was.

 

. . . 

“Oh, Adrien has found another girl to love, but only to get rejected!”Plagg mused.  
“Plagg, all I did was put her in bed, that’s it. And she hasn’t rejected me yet.” said Adrien.  
“Don’t forget about the kiss on the cheek, and how you scooped her off her feet!” Plagg added.  
“Ya, ya whatever.” Adrien turned on the TV, which showed the news channel. They were talking about global warming and climate change when all of a sudden it switched to an Akuma alert.  
“Hi, i’m Nadja Chamack, here with you live in Paris. A new akuma has appeared and is calling himself ‘The Taker’. Please stay indoors, and we’ll let Ladybug and Chat Noir handle this one.”Adrien turned off the TV.  
“Well, that sounds bad.” said Plagg.  
Adrien rolled his eyes. “Plagg, claws out!” 

. . . 

“I am The Taker! Taker of the ones you love! FEAR ME!!!” said the Taker. Chat Noir had just arrived at the scene, and was observing what the taker does. So far, what he does is he looks at someone, snaps his finger, and someone appears. From what the taker said earlier, Chat guessed that it was something that person loved. When that person appeared, the taker would clap his hands and prison bars would appear out of nowhere around that person. Chat was getting anxious, he wanted to fight but Ladybug hadn’t made it to the scene yet, and she was the one who always made up the plans. He had made several attempts at getting hold of her without any luck. Guess there was only one thing left to do, and unfortunately, he hadn’t had a lot of practice doing this. Staling.  
“Hey Taker!” he called. “I’m puretty pawsitive that taking things from somebody is stealing, and if its a person that’s called kidnapping, and that's against the law. I’m feline some negative vibes from you right now, so cool down and we’ll call it quits, ‘kay? Or else ‘i'm gonna have to take you down” he said. Ladybug would have slapped him from how many cat puns he had made in only a few sentences. Thinking about that made him sad she wasn’t here right now.  
“Attacking so soon?” said the taker. “You don’t even have a clue of what i'm capable of!” he looked Chat directly in the eyes. ‘Please don’t appear please don’t appear please don’t appear’ Chat thought. He knew what the taker was doing. And he knew exactly who would appear. The Taker snapped his finger, and in a puff of black smoke, Marinette Dupain-Cheng appeared at his feet. She wasn’t moving.  
“What did you do to her!” Chat demanded.  
“Oh, but I didn’t do anything except keep her asleep.” he said snydly.  
“Your gonna pay for this.” Chat said. He put his hand on his baton, and from the bottom he exerted a small, round object. He put his baton back, squeezing his fist tightly.  
“If you want her, your going to have to give me your miraculous!” The Taker replied. Chat knew he couldn’t win. There was no way. He was about to take off his ring when he saw Marinette stir. Either the taker didn’t notice or he didn’t care. Marinette opened one eye, but didn’t say anything. She seemed to know what was going on. When she met his gaze, she mouthed three words. Don’t do it. She knew he would do anything to save her, but she also knew the consequences. Dang that girl was amazing. He had to bite back tears of sadness. Then he looked taker directly in the eyes. “No. I will never give you my miraculous.”  
the taker shook his head. “Such a pity. I guess she only has 24 hours to live. And if you don’t give me your miraculous by then, well, lets just say things will get messy.” Chat leaped at the Taker, determined to save her, but he was quicker. He punched Chat in the head, but not before Chat placed the black object on the Taker’s back. He groaned. His head pounded furiously as he hit the ground, perhaps a minor concussion. He looked up in time to see the Taker clap of his hands, making him and Marinette disappear. He was so shocked that he fell into unconsciousness.


	2. Knocked Out

2 hours. 2 hours until she woke up. There was a black cloth bag over her head, and a very dim light light was on. The last thing she remembered before this place was waking up, getting out of bed, walking over to the stairs, and all of a sudden feeling very cold and tired. After that she assumed she passed out and hit her head. She wondered if her parents knew what was happening. No, they had left this morning to visit her uncle in China. She could just barely see through the bag, so she took note of her surroundings. It seemed that she was in an abandoned warehouse, and the ceiling seemed to be 30 feet high. She was on a chair. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her legs were tied to the seat. There were no windows, and the only exit was a metal door that was locked. And worst of all, she was alone without Tikki. She tried to loosen her bonds but it was no use. Footsteps. Someone was coming. Just as the door opened, Marinette went limp, trying to look as if she had never been awake.   
The akuma, the Taker, walked in with a chair and sat down, looking bored. When he had first brought her to this place, and started tying her up, she was conscious enough to kick him in the stomach. She had ran out of the room, into the hallway. She had almost made it, but in a puff of black smoke the Taker appeared in front of her and knocked her out. Just to make sure that she didn’t escape again, he punched her in the head and broke her ankle. She was in such agony she could barely stay awake.The taker pulled off the bag on her head, making it hard for Marinette to pretend to be asleep.   
“I know your awake” he said, holding up her head with his fingers. She squinted in the bright light. The taker was not easy to recognize. He was what your normal love sick akuma looked like. He was wearing a leather suit from his neck to his toes. His suit was the color of fresh blood. On each side of his suit he had a zipper pocket. His sleeves and neck were as dark as the night, and he was holding a wicked bo staff looking thing, and Marinette did NOT want to be on the other end of it. While marinette sat there motionless, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that something was missing.   
“Poor Marinette. Sweet and innocent child.” he said. She pulled away her head away and made an attempt to bite his fingers, but he was quick. “Feisty, I see.”  
“What do you want with me!” screamed Marinette. “What did I do to deserve this? Huh! Tell me what I did!” she cried. She was on the verge of tears. She tried to look tough, but she was so scared that she would never be let go. Poor chat would have to fend for the city by himself.  
Oh no. Not chat. If chat came after her, she wouldn't be able to help him because she was all tied up. In the end chat would end up getting knocked out, or worse, his miraculous would get taken. Ever since chat had been visiting her, her heart had slowly been torn between him and Adrien. Chat was brave, funny(not including most of his puns), loyal, a gentleman, and was always there when she needed him. But Adrien was also funny, kind, a gentlemen, loyal brave, and was there when she needed him. Huh, funny that the two of them have the same traits.  
“My dear Marinette, it’s not you who I want, it’s Chat Noir. You are just simply the bait to get him here.”  
Weird, thought Marinette, he never mentioned anything about Ladybug.   
“So, Taker, what happened to you to let Hawkmoth akumatize you?”  
He rubbed his hands together. “What happened to me does not matter. But since you have nothing more to do, I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I had just bought flowers for my girlfriend. It was the day that I was going to propose to her. I had just gotten home, and I noticed that all of her things were gone. On the counter was a handwritten note from her. She said that she was sorry, but she wanted to break up so she could go live with another man instead. That man took her away from me, he took all of the happiness out of my life. I was in a distraught state when a little butterfly landed on the bow tie I was wearing. Hawkmoth gave me a much better deal than life itself. I could take loved ones from people who didn’t deserve them.”  
Marinette was confused. “Why did you tell me where the akuma was?” she asked  
“Well,” he replied, “It’s not like you could do anything about it. I mean look at where you are now. Well, anyways, I guess you’re probably hungry, so I brought some food.”  
Marinette hadn’t realized that he had walked in with food on a tray. Wait a minute. A tray…Marinette got an idea, but it would have to be timed perfectly to work. The Taker went behind her and started to untie her hands. When her hands were free, she grabbed the tray and slammed it down onto the Taker’s head. Or at least, she thought she did. Strike 2.

. . . 

As soon as Chat Noir woke up, he looked around, hoping that what had happened was all a dream. Sadly, it wasn’t. He had to bite back tears as he examined the scene around him. A few buildings were in ruins, and some people were locked away in random cages that popped out of nowhere. He couldn’t remember much, all he remembered was Marinette disappearing, looking frightened, pleading for his help. He had no idea what the Taker was capable of, and no idea where Marinette had disappeared to. Since Ladybug hadn’t shown up yet(I know, weird right?), he had decided to think what she would do.  
“Think Chat, think. What would Ladybug do.” Well, for starters, she would asses the situation. Check. She would quickly try to reason with the akumatized victim. If telling the akuma that he needed to chill and hand over the akuma counted, then double check. Then she would fight till she used her lucky charm. Half check. But right now, Chat had no idea what she would have done. He had a vague memory of touching the Taker’s shoulder, but he didn’t know why. His staff started to buzz so he opened it up. On the screen, he saw a map of Paris and a glowing red dot that seemed to be moving. Chat slapped his thigh. Genius! He had subconsciously put a tracker on the Taker. Now he would be able to find him and Marinette.  
“It’s time to finish what I started.” Said Chat. And with that he lept into the night following the red glowing dot.

. . . 

The next time Marinette woke up, she was hanging 20 feet in the air, suspended on  
rope that was tied around her wrists. She would have cried, but she was in so much pain she couldn’t make a sound. She could feel another bruise on her head, and she could feel the warm ooze of blood making its way down her head, tracing her jaw line. It had seemed that the taker loved inflicting pain, because she now had a broken leg. She couldn’t feel her hands, and the ropes were cutting off her circulation, making her hands turn a sick shade of blue.  
She could feel her conscience slipping, and she didn’t know how much longer she had to live. Just as she was about to lose feeling in her arms completely, the ropes above her snapped, and she went falling, falling, falling…  
Right into the arms of Chat Noir. She screamed out in pain as he handled her leg.  
“Oh Marinette, i’m so sorry,” Chat whispered. “I should have been here sooner, i should have stopped him. I should have protected you, I-I-” Marinette looked up to find that Chat was crying. She buried her head in his chest and began to sob, as Chat rambled on. When they finally stopped crying, Chat said, “We better get going, the Taker will be here any minute now.”  
As if on cue, the Taker appeared in front of Chat Noir in a poof of smoke. He sliced his leg under Chat’s, making him fall, throwing Marinette onto the ground, bringing fresh blood to her lips, and more pain to her leg. He stood Marinette up, putting an arm around her neck, a gun pointed to her head.  
“Nice kitty.” the Taker sneered. “Did you really think that you could get away so easily. Heck, you don’t even have Ladybug with you. Oh wait, she’s right here.” he said, pressing the barrel harder into her skull.  
“What are you talking about, that’s Marinette. Ladybug just hasn’t...hasn’t...shown up yet.” Chat stammered, realization finally dawning on his face. “It’s you. It’s really you.”  
She couldn’t look him in the eyes. She wouldn’t be able to handle the disappointment on his face.  
“How come you haven’t transformed yet?” he asked  
Ya, why hadn’t she transformed yet? She could just transform, drop kick the Taker, say no more evil doing for you little akuma, bye bye little butterfly, pound it, and be done with her misery. But something held her back. A weird feeling, as if something were...missing.  
“Have you not figured it out yet?” the Taker grinned. “She can’t transform without her miraculous, which, by the way, I already have.” He produced a leather pouch and opened it, showing off the Ladybug earrings. Chat gasped, which was followed by a low growl.  
“You are sooooo going to pay for this.”  
He tried to take a step forward, but the Taker pressed the gun into her skull harder.  
“Do you think i’m kidding Chat Noir? I will pull the trigger. So either you give me your miraculous or-” he was cut off by Chats loud and very dramatic gasp  
“What is that?!”  
Oh my gosh, thought Marinette. What a lame attempt. It would never work.  
Well, either Chat was a really good actor, or the Taker was just stupid, because the Taker immediately looked back in surprise. Regardless, as soon as he turned around, Chat whipped out his pole, and extended it. Just as Chat was extending it, the taker turned back around, Marinette ducked to avoid the pole, and the Taker got an imprint of a cat paw on his forehead, making him stagger backwards, falling over the chair.  
“Quick Milady, we have to get out of here”  
Chat scooped up Marinette princess style, and carried her out of that building so fast that they barely heard the frustrated screams of the akuma left behind.


	3. Revealed

By the time Chat Noir brought Marinette home, she was sound asleep in his arms. It was almost midnight, so he decided to spend the night at the bakery. He dropped into her bedroom, set her down, and went into the bathroom. There, he grabbed the first aid kit, and a cloth, which he wet with warm water. He got back to Marinette's room and immediately got to work. He started off by cleaning out Marinette's head wound, which fortunately wasn’t deep enough for stitches. He gently patted the blood of of her head, face, and jawline, then he put a big bandaid on her forehead. He chuckled to himself, because the bandaid had a bunch of smiley faces on it. Next, he got to work on her leg. He pulled of her boots and winced. Her leg was twisted in a weird way, and several of her toes were pointed in odd directions  
Being as gentle as he could be, he set Marinette's leg and toes in the right direction, and began to wrap several ace bandages around her leg till she could be taken to the hospital. He tucked her in under her covers, and got a few extra blankets for himself, so he wouldn’t have to sleep outside in the cold. He made a makeshift bed next to Marinette's desk, and curled up. But what he didn’t know, was that as soon as he fell asleep, his transformation wore off.

. . . 

Marinette woke up feeling groggy. She had the strangest dream that she was kidnapped by an akuma, and then Chat Noir had saved her. Pretty weird, right? Marinette sat up in bed and stretched.  
“Tikki?” she called out. “Tikki? Where are you? We have to go to school.”  
No answer  
“Tikki, i’m serious, come on stop playing games.” Marinette threw her covers off her bed and tried to stand. As soon as pressure hit her leg, she buckled onto the floor. Marinette gasped in pain, black spots dancing in her eyes.  
“What in the world? When did i break my leg!” she wondered  
She crawled down her steps, next to her computer. When she turned around, she almost screamed. Adrien Agreste was laying on her floor, curled up in a layer of blankets. Adrien Agreste was in her house. The Adrien Agreste was right in front of her face. She gasped and tried to back away, accidentally knocking over a stack of books in the process. The books hit the ground with a loud boom, and Adrien was suddenly standing up, looking like he wanted to pick a fight with somebody.  
“Oh, good morning Purrincess!” he beamed  
Marinette was speechless. She opened her mouth to say something, but her voice wouldn’t work.  
“Marinette, are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  
She started backing away, slowly to the stairs, and she turned and started to climb. She got nowhere before Adrien grabbed her arm.  
“Marinette, talk to me. What’s wrong?” he asked, concern written all over his face.  
“W-what are y-you doing in my r-room?” she asked “your father would be worried. And also, HOW did you get in m-my room?”  
Adrien looked worried. “What do you mean Princess? I brought you here, don’t you remember?”  
“Ok first of all, why do you keep calling me ‘Princess’? Only Chat Noir calls me that. And second, what do you mean brought me here? I fell asleep in my bed, and nobody took me anywhere.”  
“What do you mean only Cha-” Adrien’s eyes widened, and he looked at his arms and legs and gasped.  
“Oh nonononono. NO, this is SO not happening!”  
Marinette sat down in her wheely chair. “What?”  
Adrien looked around nervously. “Ok Marinette, now that you know i’m Chat Noir, I need you to promise me, promise me, that you won’t tell anyone. Wait why am I telling you this, I know I can count on you. Well, you are Ladybug after all.”  
Marinette let out a shriek. “Your Chat Noir?!?!? THE Chat Noir?!?!”  
Adrien looked confused. “Well, ya. I would have guessed you would have already figured it out, because of last night and all.”  
“Wait, what do you mean last night?” asked Marinette  
“Don’t you remember? The akuma? Your leg?” said Adrien.  
“You mean that was real! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh. OH. MY FREAKING. GOSH!” Marinette started to cry  
“Hey, why are you crying?” asked adrien  
Marinette sniffled. “Because you're probably disappointed of who I am without the mask. i‘m a failure to mankind. I had one chance to stop the akuma, and I was too busy being knocked out.”  
Adrien walked over and cupped Marinette’s cheeks. “What are you talking about? First of all, you were too sick to even lift a finger. And second, my chances couldn’t be better. No way i’m disappointed.” Adrien led Marinette back up to her bed, and they sat down. “Ya know, I actually like you, with and without the mask.” Adrien hugged Marinette, which startled her, but it felt too good to pull away.  
“Y-you like m-me?” she asked  
“What’s not to like. Your a fashion designer, you’re the cutest girl at school, you have an amazing sense of humor, you have a beautiful smile, your brave, your my bugaboo, I could go on, but I don’t think you can handle it.” he said.  
Marinette buried her head in his chest. “You were always such a flirt.” she said  
Adrien knelt on one knee and took her hand. “But of course, milady.”  
He tried to kiss her hand, but as usual she pulled it away and poked his nose.  
“There’s no time for your childish charm, Adrien. We have to go to school and wait for the akuma to show up.”

. . .

Marinette and Adrien walked into the class. They had both decided against going to the hospital, since Marinette’s parents were out of town, and she could probably just borrow a pair of crutches from the school nurse.  
When they got to school Alya and nino walked up to them.  
“Oh my gosh! Girl, first you are sick, then you don't come to school for a whole day, and now your on crutches? What is happening to you!” Alya exclaimed.  
“Adrien my man! Long time no see! Where were you yesterday? You skipped a whole day of school.” Nino said  
“Hey Alya, hey Nino. i was helping Marinette wrap up her leg. her Parents are out of town, and we decided it probably wasn't the best idea going to the hospital without them.” replied Adrien.  
“Uh-huh?” Alya said, with a knowing smile. “Is that all you did?”  
Marinette’s face turned bright red. “Alya!”  
Alya looked at her defensively. “Just asking.” she chuckled.  
The bell rang, so they all rode the elevator up to the second floor, since Marinette couldn’t use the stairs.  
Alya pulled Nino into her seat, and insisted that Adrien and Marinette sit together, which made to new bright red faces.  
They sat down, and heard a scream from the door. Chloe Bourgeois was gasping for breath, all red faced as she stormed over to Marinette and Adrien.  
“Oh my poor Adrikins! Did Marinette do this to you? Making her sit with you, making you suffer? Don’t worry Adrikins, you can come sit with me, i’ll save you from that little brat!” she said, glaring at Marinette, sticking her tongue out. She started tugging on his arm, but he pulled away. Adrien put an arm around Mariette, turning her face bright red.  
“It’s ok Chlo, Marinette broke her leg, so i’m helping her out for the day.” he said  
Chloe looked baffled. “But you'd much rather sit with me, right? Come on, before she gets her nasty bakers germs on you.”  
Adrien didn’t move. “I said im fine, Chloe. Class is about to start.”  
Chloe spun on her heel and walked over to her desk. Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”  
“You know, you don’t have to sit with me.” said Marinette.  
“Give me one reason i shouldn’t.” Adrien replied. “When are you going to get over the fact that i like you, and i’m especially not leaving your side while the taker is still out there.” he kissed her on the cheek, making Marinette turn red and earning a small gasp from Alya.  
“Thanks Adrien.”Marinette said. She suddenly stiffened. “If the Taker knows who I am, he could be here any minute.”  
“Your right. We need to be ready when he tries to take you.”  
Marinette snapped her fingers. “I know how. Class hasn't started yet, so Ms. Mendeleiev shouldn’t be in her class yet. Come one, there’s no time!”

. . .

“Alright we’ve got the body, the safety pin, the safety ring, the lemon and onion juices...” Marinette said. Adrien and Marinette had snuck into the science lab to stock up on safety supplies.  
“I think we have everything. I’ll start assembling everything, you convert the lemon and onion juices into the gas state.” Adrien said.  
Marinette ran from cabinet to cabinet, as quickly as her crutches could take her. opening each one and thoroughly searching each one as quickly and quietly as possible. The last cabinet she opened, and gave a triumphant look of satisfaction. Inside the cabinet was a small blow torch, and a chemistry flask and a matching lid, a funnel, and a cooling rack with a small top but long legs. Why a cooling rack was in there, she had no idea, but she was grateful anyways.  
She grabbed all of the items, and brought them over to the nearest table. She put the flask on the rack, the funnel in the flask, and she placed the lid and torch next to the temporary device. She poured the juices into the funnel, which leaked into the chemistry flask, ensuring that nothing spilled. She then took the funnel out, set it aside, and put the lid on the flask. She turned the torch on its highest heat, aiming it for the bottom of the glass vial.  
“Come on, come on...heat faster!” she mumbled to herself as the liquid started to boil.  
Adrien had finished assembling the device, and brought over a small plastic container, setting down next to her.  
“”Here you go.” he said.  
“Thanks Adrien.”  
He drove his fingers through his hair, a smug grin on his face. “Anytime.” he pointed finger guns at her, and Marinette get her free hand to her forehead. Adrien leaned in, grinning in her face, and she pushed him back with a finger, like she usually did on patrols.  
“Come on, Adrien. Focus! Class is almost about to start. Were going to get caught.” as if on cue, they heard the footsteps of someone in the hallway.  
“Hurry marinette!” adrien hissed.  
“Im trying!”  
Footsteps. Closer, closer…  
“Got it!”she whispered.  
The juices had transformed to the gaseous state, and marinette quickly transferred them to the plastic container, and they both ducked in the back of the classroom right as Mrs. Mendeleev walked in.  
“Who’s there?” she asked  
No answer. She glanced at the equipment left out. As she walked closer, Adrien grabbed Marinette’s crutches and quickly crawled out of the room. Marinette was about to follow, but mrs. Mendeleev looked her way. Who’s there? I know your in here.” she said  
Marinette looked pleadingly in Adrien’s direction. Adrien pulled something out of his pocket, and when mrs. Mendeleev wasn’t looking, he threw a pencil towards the other end of the classroom.  
“Aha! I’ve gotcha now!” exclaimed Mrs. Mendeleev, who didn’t happen to notice Marinette crawling out of the classroom.  
“Hurry hurry hurry!” Marinette hissed, as Adrien helped her stand up, handing her the crutches.  
“Let’s get to class before anyone notices we were gone.” said Adrien.  
They walked into the classroom just as Miss. Bustier walked in. adrien and Marinette quickly sat down, and Adrien gave her the device they had created. The object he handed to her was a small sting grenade, filed with the lemon and onion gases, and if you pulled the trigger, 2 seconds later it would explode in a flash of red and green smoke. The smoke colors were Adrien’s idea, a little something to flare it up a bit.  
They were half way into class when something felt wrong. Not like a feeling in your gut, but an actual feeling. Almost like the classroom was turned into a deep freezer.  
“Dang, winter hit us pretty hard this year.” Nino said.  
“I dont think it’s that.” replied Alya. “I think it’s the ice queen and her stink eye.” Marinette followed Alya’s gaze, to find that Chloe was staring daggers at her. No doubt because she wasn’t the one sitting with Adrien.  
Marinette chuckled, but she still felt like something was about to happen. Almost like…  
Marinette seized Adrien’s arm, making him jump.  
“Oh my gosh, your hands are freezing!” he hissed.  
“Don’t you know why!” she whispered back, wide eyed and scared. “He’s coming!”  
“Who-” realization settled on his face. “We have to get out of here. NOW.”  
“We can’t just both leave in the middle of class. People will get suspicious.”  
“Miss Dupain-Cheng and Mr. Agreste.” Miss Bustier said. “If you want to have a sidebar conversation, you can do it in the principal's off-” she didn’t finish her sentence. She wasn’t even looking in there direction anymore. She was more interested in the black smoke entering the room from the door.  
“Marinette.” said the Taker. “It seems you haven’t slipped from my grasp after all.”

. . .

“Marinette what’s he talking about?” said Alya. “And also, who is he?”  
Nobody had moved. Everybody was shocked, staring at Marinette for an explanation.  
“Everybody needs to leave. NOW!” said Marinette  
“How?” said Nino. “And also, who the heck is this guy?”  
“He’s the Taker. He’s an akuma. He used me as bait. Chat Noir saved me. And now he wants to use me as bait again. Now go. Out the back door. NOW!” she yelled  
Everybody left. At least, she thought everybody did.  
Marinette and Adrien were the only two students left in the room.  
The Taker looked at Adrien in disgust. “What are you still doing here? This is between me, and your little friend Marinette.” he pointed his head toward her.  
Adrien glared at him. “Anything that involves Marinette is my business.”  
The Taker gave him a quizzical look.  
“Plagg, Claws Out!” yelled Adrien. In a flash of green, Chat Noir was standing right infront of them, tail swishing angrily.  
The Taker looked at him in astonishment. “Well, it seems that I have both of the hero’s of Paris in my midst.” he snapped his fingers, and Marinette disappeared for a second, appearing at the Taker’s side. He was holding her in a choke hold. That Only made Chat Noir angrier. He heard a small gasp behind him, but thought nothing of it.  
Chat Noir smiled. “But the one thing you don’t know is that we have science on our side.”  
The Taker growled. “What-”  
Marinette stepped on his shoe, causing him to let go of her to grab his foot. She pulled out the grenade, unzipped his zipper, pulled the ring off the device, and stuck it in the Taker’s pocket. Before it could explode, she hopped out of the way, pulling Chat Noir with her, who was looking at her in astonishment. They ducked behind a desk, just as the grenade went off, soaking everything within a 2 foot radius of it in a stinging fuse of green and red gases.  
“My eyes!” cried the Taker. “I can’t see!”  
The Taker breathed in big heavy breathes, breathing in all of the onion and lemon gases, causing him to cough rapidly. After a few seconds, Marinette hobbled over to him, and grabbed the leather pouch in his other pocket, the Taker unable to stop or see her. She put in her earrings, and Tikki appeared in front of her.  
“Marinette, I’m so glad to see you!” exclaimed Tikki.  
“Ya me too, but there’s no time for that. Tikki, Spots On!” and in a flash of pink and red, Ladybug was standing in their midst. Even though she was transformed, she still technically had a broken leg. She could put more pressure of it that before, but not a lot of pressure.  
Chat stood up next to her. “It’s so nice to see you in uniform again, milady.”  
Marinette chuckled. “You too kitty, but the chit chat can wait for later”  
The Taker regained his senses, and stared at Ladybug in disbelief. “NO! It wasn’t supposed to go this way!”  
“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Ladybug said. “But Akuma’s are losers, and we're not going to let one roam free. Chat Noir, i’ll let you take the lead.”  
“My pleasure milady.” he said  
The fight didn’t start in Chat’s favor. He ran to tackle the Taker, but the Taker just snapped his fingers and reappeared behind Chat, and punched him in the small of his back. When Chat turned around, the Taker punched him in the stomach. Chat doubled over, and the Taker knocked him over, pinning him to the ground. He lifted his arm up to punch him again, but was stopped by Ladybug’s yoyo. She tried to pull the Taker away from Chat, but he was quicker. He yanked the yoyo, sending Ladybug flying around the room until she hit a wall. She groaned out in pain, clutching her leg. Taker stood up and slowly walked over to her, clearly enjoying her pain.  
He grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall, her legs dangling hopelessly 2 feet off the ground. She clawed at his arms, trying to free herself, trying to get a breath of air, but he only squeezed harder, a grin growing on his face.  
“Ladybug!” screamed Chat Noir. She could barely hear him. She was already fading into unconsciousness. She almost passed out, when she felt herself slip to the floor as Chat pulled the Taker away from her grasp. They started fighting again, but this time Chat has the upper hand, renewed with energy from his anger.  
“Lucky...charm.” Ladybug said weakly, throwing her yo yo into the air. She grabbed the object out of the air.  
“Spray on...Instant...cement?” She wondered allowed, wheezing as the pain subsided. She looked around with her lucky vision, and the Taker’s hand started furiously blinking.  
“Oh...I get it.” She exclaimed. “Chat!”  
He grunted as he punched the Taker. “Can this wait milady?”  
She shook her head. “Silly kitty.” With great effort, she pushed herself to her feet. “Get his hands...behind his back!”  
“On it.” Chat replied.  
He fought for what seemed like hours, running out of energy quickly. When the Taker went in for the kill, chat grabbed his wrists, kneed him in the stomach, and flipped him around.  
Ladybug saw her opening and took it. She ran over, wincing at every other step, and sprayed the Takers hands with the cement.  
Chat release him, and took a step back.  
The Taker examines his hands, and laughed. “Do you really think a little color will stop me?” He lifted his hands in the air, but his fingers didn’t move. The Taker looked at his hands, trying to snap his fingers, but they didn’t budge.  
“What...what did you do to them?” He demanded.  
Ladybug brought out the can. “It’s a little more than mere graffiti. This is cement. And it just so happens that it has taken a liking to your hands.”  
“Fools!” He said. “Now I can just hit harder! You can’t defeat me!”  
“Actually, we can.” Replied chat, producing the bow tie he had snatched from his neck.  
The Takers eyes widened as he felt around his neck.  
“I believe this is yours, milady.” He said, handing it to Ladybug.  
“Good job, kitty.” She ripped it in half, releasing the Akuma within.  
“No more evil doing for you little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!” She captured the Akuma, immediately cleansing it. “Gotcha! Bye bye little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!” She threw the can in the air, fixing all of the damage caused by the Akuma, even fixing her broken leg and wounded head.  
“Pound it!” Ladybug put up her fist, but Chat didn’t move. He was staring behind her, mouth open wide. Ladybug turned around, and gasped. Staring at them was Alya Cesar. And she had recorded the whole thing.


	4. Fame?

The akumatized victim was helped out by the police, who arrived shortly after he was conquered. Ladybug and Chat Noir stared at Alya, and she stared at them. The silence was uncomfortable and excruciating.   
Finally Ladybug couldn’t stand it anymore. She looked the two of them in the eyes. “My house. 10 pm. Alya, you were coming over anyways, I guess you can sleep over.” then she looked at Chat Noir. “your going to have to try to find a way to sneak out of your house without your Father noticing, considering how strict he is.”  
She looked back at Alya. “Please tell me that you did not post that on the ladyblog.”  
Alya shook away her surprise. “Sorry Mar- I mean Ladybug! I was filming live. Who knows how many people have already seen that video.” she looked down. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t think it would go down hill like this.”   
Marinette took a deep breath. “It’s ok Alya, you didn’t know it was going to happen, you have a blog and it’s your job to keep Paris updated. Chat Noir, you need to hurry back to your house and cut off all links to the Ladyblog, and turn off all notifications. If your Father finds out,” she shook her head. “You’ll never be able to be let out of the house. If he finds out, you are welcome to stay at my house, my parents aren’t coming back from China for another two weeks. Alya, you may as well invite Nino over as well. Bug out!”  
Ladybug and Chat Noir left, leaving Alya alone to ponder on what just happened. Were two of her closest friends really the hero’s of Paris? Were they really the biggest love birds in Paris? How long have they known each other's identity? She had so many questions to ask them, it was probably good that they already left, or she might have went full on photographer on them. Given they were in the school, that probably wasn’t the best idea.

. . .

 

Marinette sneaked into the bakery. You can never be too careful, especially if all of Paris knew you were Ladybug.  
“Marinette. What are we going to do?” Asked Tikki.  
Marinette ran up to her room. “Well, there isn’t much that we can do tikki. I guess I’ll just try to deny that fact that i'm Ladybug.”   
She logged into the Ladyblog, and watched the video. She saw Chat. Our and her transform, she saw the spray on instant cement, the gas grenade, everything.  
She groaned, and fell on her desk. “Tikki, they’ve seen everything! Everybody will be parading at the bakery downstairs! Everyone will want to be my friend, my parents will forbids me from being Ladybug, Hawkmoth will know who me and Chat Noir are, I might lose my Miraculous,” she gasped loudly. “Or worse. Chloe will be nice to me… and want to be my friend! My life is over!”  
Tikki rolled her eyes. “Your life is not over. And now, you might get some recognition for all you’ve done for Paris!”  
Suddenly, there was a knock on the hatch above her bed. “Who's there?” No answer. She wandered up to her bed, and opened the hatch to find a green eyed friend staring at her. “Um, hi?” She said. Chat Noir leaped into her room. “Sorry I’m so early.” He looked down. “My father found out, and threatened to homeschool me if I didn’t quick this nonsense and give him the ring. He said he would give me until 6 o’clock. I couldn’t let him take it, so I ran.” He looked up at her. “I don’t know if I can ever go back. I’ve decided to take you up on your offer.”  
Marinette looked genuinely baffled when he let go of his transformation, but quickly fixed her composure. “Sorry. I’m still not used to you being Chat Noir.”  
They stared into each other's eyes. Marinette wanted to sit down with him and talk about his father. She wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be alright. Most of all, she wanted to kiss him on the cheek, and just hold him until he felt better. She forced herself to look away.  
“Well, I guess I have to get some blankets and some pillows, and I bet I can find a thin portable mattress.” She said as she wandered around her room, collecting blankets and pillows. In no time, she had a makeshift bed on the other side of her room closed off by a divider, giving him some privacy. Since she was a fashion designer, she had been designing all sorts of clothing for a long time, including clothing that would fit adrien.  
“Wow, thanks Marinette!” said Adrien. She had given him a pile of clothing that he could use for the time being. She had designed them all by herself, her inspiration coming from Gabriel Agreste. She didn’t tell him that for obvious reasons.  
“Well,” said Adrien. “We have some time to kill before alya gets here. What should we do?”  
“Well first off we should get our homework done.” said Marinette.  
“Ya but we don’t have homework.”  
“And why is that?”  
“Because there was an akuma.”  
“So?”  
“It was at school, so they evacuated the school. We don’t have school for the rest of the day, and we were barely into first period. Which means no homework.”  
“Oh.” said Marinette, dumbfounded. “Well, I have to make croissants for school tomorrow-”  
Adrien gasped loudly. “CROISSANTS?!” a smile, probably the biggest smile Marinette has ever seen in her whole life, appeared on his face so quickly it scared her. “CAN I HELP?!”  
She laughed. “Sure kitty. We can also make spinach and salmon pie, since I know you liked it from last time.”  
Adrien started crying. “This is the best day of my life I just want to take the time to thank you for letting me stay here so I can have croissants and pie for dinner and so I can spend the rest of the day with you oh my gosh i’m gonna die of happiness this is truly the best day of my life and I get to spend it with my best friends...” he took a deep breath and wiped his eyes.  
Marinette just looked at him awkwardly. “I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.”  
Adrien chuckled. “Let’s go make that pie.”  
Marinette taught Adrien how to make croissants, even if it took a long time for both of them. Marinette kept on giggling getting flustered much to Adrien’s attempt at baking, who didn’t know how to do the simplest things. While Marinette made the pie, Adrien watched the rest of the croissants bake.  
“Ya know,” he said. “Your a pretty good baker. You could become the best chef of Paris someday!”  
She laughed. “And beat my parents? No way! I love baking an all, but my parents are way better, and I have so much more to learn. Although I love baking, my heart and soul are in designing.”  
Adrien stood next to her, carefully watching her. “So...ya know...we both like eachother...so, I was wondering...if, oh I don’t know...if maybe...you would consider...going...out with me?” he said nervously.  
Marinette looked at him. “Wow, your more nervous than i would have been.”  
His face turned red, earning a giggle from her. “Hey! I’m not in the Chat suit, so it’s kinda hard!”  
She laughed then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes, kitty! A thousand times yes!”  
Adrien could have sworn he died and went to heaven. Marinette, was kissing him. afterwards, he couldn’t remember the details clearly, he only knew that it felt wonderful. It lasted for what seemed like forever.  
Marinette pulled away, and his face brightened. “That, is probably the best news all day.” he picked her up and spun her around, making her laugh in delight. He set her down and she kissed him on the cheek.  
“Alright kitty, now we really need to finish dinner.” she said.  
After they had finished eating, the snuggled up on the couch to watch netflix.   
“Well, it took you long enough.”  
Marinette and Adrien both looked at the door, startled.  
“Oh, it’s just you guys.” said Marinette, looking at Alya and Nino, who had walked in without warning.  
Alya gave the two a stern look, not doing a very good job at hiding her happiness. “So, first you don’t tell me your Ladybug and Chat Noir, and now you don’t tell me that your DATING!?” she squealed and ran over to meet them. “When did it happen! Tell me all the deets girl! And don’t leave anything out!”  
“Yo Adrien wassup?” said nino, giving Adrien a man hug.  
“Nothing much, just my identity getting revealed in front of all of Paris. How ‘bout you?” asked Adrien.  
“Oh, that’s right dude! Your Chat Noir! I almost forgot. But chill, it’s cool! I understand why you didn’t tell me sooner.” Nino said, grinning.  
“Well, you guys must have a lot of questions, so we can go up in my room and i’ll let you guys settle in. then we can talk.  
They went up to her room, and Nino set up his stuff on the boys side of the room, while Alya set up her stuff next to Marinette’s bed side. Then they all sat on the carpet on the middle of the floor, Alya sitting next to nino, and Marinette sitting next to Adrien, who had his arm around her.  
“This is all coming so fast!” Alya said. “So you were the one who gave me the fox miraculous?”  
Nino gasped. “That was you!?”  
Aly turned red, realizing her mistake. “Whoops. Forgot I wasn’t supposed to mention that.”  
Adrien’s mouth fell open. “Did not see that coming. Well then, if Alya’s Rena Rouge, and you chose her because she’s close to you, then that means Carapace is…” he looked at Nino. “Bro.”  
“Yep,” Nino said. “It was me bro.”  
“Bro.”  
“Bro?”   
“Bro!” Adrien clapped Nino on the back. “Sweet, another partner in crime I can count on.”  
“Bro...you would turn to me for help again?”  
“Of course bro.”  
“Bro.”  
“Bro.”   
Marinette and Alya looked at eachother and rolled their eyes. “Boys.”  
“Ok, Alya, next question.”  
Alya nearly burst with excitement. “Ok, how long have you to known each other's identities? How long have you had you powers? How do you have your powers? Did you like Chat Noir with the mask? Did you like Marinette without the mask? Did you-“  
“Alya,” said Marinette. “Slow down. One question at a time.”  
She chuckled. “Sorry, I’m a reporter. Ok, first, how did you get your powers?”  
Adrien answered. “Our powers aren’t in us, they’re in our jewelry. Mines my ring, and Marinette's is her earrings. As for how we got them, it was the first day of school, and we had gone home because of the akuma, and the jewels were just there.”  
“Hmm, interesting.” Alya commented. “Ok, how long have you know each other's identities?”  
“Well,” said Marinette. “Were not actually supposed to know each other, but I was kidnapped by the Taker, and he stole my miraculous, my earrings. Adrien came to save me, not knowing I was Ladybug, and the Taker told him. So, I guess we found out yesterday.”  
“Dude!” said Nino. “So you did like Marinette!”  
Adrien blushed. “Ya, I visited her every night after patrol, and it kinda just happened. We became good friend with and without the mask.” he hugged Marinette tighter, and she rested her head on his shoulder.  
“Is it just the jewels that give you the powers?” asked Nino  
“Pfft. Please, as if Adrien could do anything without my help.” came a tiny voice from Adrien’s coat.  
Plagg floated out from behind him, making Nino and Alya gasp.  
“Plagg! You were supposed to stay silent.” said Tikki.  
“What! They already know his identity. Great job by the way.” said Plagg.  
Adrien and Marinette simultaneously face palmed.  
“Well, this is my kwami,” Marinette said, gesturing towards Tikki. “She’s like a little greek god, except she’s not greek. When we transform into Ladybug and Chat Noir, our Kwami’s get sucked into our suits, giving us super strength and our powers. When we have our suits on, we are immune to regular things, like falling or punches and guns. But if it’s magical, it can damage us. Really, the only thing that reduces magical damage is my power to heal everything after an akuma.”  
Nino poked plagg. “Whose this little guy?”  
Plagg slapped Nino’s hand. “Hey now! I’m Adrien’s Kwami Plagg, and don’t ever touch me again.”  
“Sorry Nino,” said Adrien. “He’s the grumpiest between the two.”  
“That,” Alya said. “I can tell.”  
“Come on Plagg, let’s go somewhere else.”said Tikki, as she dragged him away.  
Marinette yawned. “It’s getting late, and we’ve got school tomorrow. And it’ll be a very long day for me and you.” she said, poking Adrien in the chest.  
“Oh great.” He said. “As if I needed more attention.”  
They all went to there sleeping quarters, Alya and Marinette sleeping next to her bed, Nino and Adrien slept next to the hatch.

. . .  
Adrien woke in the middle of the night. He sat up, and tried to rub the tired out of his eyes. He had so much on his mind, with everyone knowing his secret and all, and he needed a breather. He tiptoed across the floor, and climbed up to Marknette’s bed. He was prepared to carefully climb on her bed to avoid waking her, but she wasn’t there. Confused, he climbed onto the balcony. She wasn’t there either.  
“Who...who are you looking for right now!” Plagg yawned. “First get me cheese.”   
“Marinette’s not here. Plagg, claws out!”  
As soon as he transformed, he kept from building to building, searching for Marinette.   
“Marinette!” He would whisper from time to time. He never got an answer, so he kept on looking. He was about to give up, when he saw a pair of pink pants on the Eiffel Tower. He extended his stick to the tower, and he found her sitting on a ledge, her legs brought up to her chest. He walked over to her, and sat down. He looked over and noticed she had been crying.  
“Hey.” He said.  
She wiped her eyes. “Hi.”  
He scooted closer to her. “Hey,” he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. “Are you ok?”  
She rested her head on his chest, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. “What if...what if the world doesn’t… doesn’t except me?”  
“Hey, don’t think like that.” Chat kissed her head. “If the world doesn’t except you, they’re crazy. And if anyone confronts you about it I will personally beat them up.”   
She chuckled, and kissed him on the cheek.  
They stayed there for a while, watching as all of Paris slept. Chat finally rubbed her arm and stood. “Shouldn’t the Purrincess be getting to sleep?”  
She stood, and took his extended hand.  
He scooped her up and kept from roof to roof until they came to the Dupain-Cheng’s balcony. He helped her down, and then he followed. He released his transformation, making a very tired, very angry Plagg appear.  
“Seriously?!” He said. “Now I’m STARVING. Get me cheese.”  
Adrien put his finger over his mouth. “Plagg! Be quite. Now go sleep with Tikki.”  
Plagg floated away. “Fine, but I expect much tomorrow.”   
Adrien rolled his eyes. “Like I said, he’s grumpy.”  
She giggled. “It’s ok. Well, I’ll see you in the morning.”   
He grabbed her hand. “Wait a minute. Doesn’t your knight in shining armor deserve a kiss?”   
Of course he was totally joking, but Marinette didn’t care. She pulled him into a kiss. It didn’t last long, but it was enough to knock Adrien off his feet.  
“Goodnight kitty.” She said as she climbed into bed.  
He wandered down her ladder, nearly tripping over himself. He plopped down on his bed, trying to convince himself that that had just happened. He eventually fell asleep, thinking about Marinette’s soft kiss.

. . .

“Wake up sleepy head!”  
Marinette sleepily rubbed her eyes, looking up at Alya, who was all dressed.  
“Good...morning.” She said in between a yawn.  
“Get dressed, we're going to be late for school. Nino and Adrien are down stairs getting some breakfast.” Alya said.  
Marinette got dressed, and went downstairs.  
“Good morning Milady.” Adrien kisses her on the cheek.  
“Good morning kitty.” She grabbed a croissant, and took a bite. “Come on you guys, were gonna be late.”  
She walked out the door, and the others followed.  
They walked to the top of the stairs, and Marinette stopped.  
“Uh, Marinette, are you gonna continue er…” said Nino.  
“Hey,” Adrien said. “Remember what I said last night, you can do this.”  
She took in a deep breath, and nodded her head. She took a step forward, and opened the doors.  
As soon as they stepped foot inside the school, everyone turned their way. The all started to whisper. “There she is…” and, “Oh my gosh it’s Ladybug!”, which only made her more agitated.   
She walked faster to the locker rooms, and ran into Chloe.  
Chloe glared at her, but it looked like she was trying to hide her excitement.  
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She said.  
“Chloe, if there is anything you want to say to me, just spit it out.”  
She glared at her, and then she burst.  
“Ladybug! Oh my gosh wanna take a picture together?” She took a photo of them, and Marinette decided she had enough of this. She ran into the locker rooms, and put her things in her locker.  
She could practically hear Chloe foaming at the mouth over her and Adrien.  
Adrien ran in after her. “Well, things have definitely changed.”  
“Ya think?” She responded.  
He chuckled. “Come on, lets go to class.”  
The day was a nightmare. Marinette and Adrien sat together, and Nino and Alya day together. Everybody’s attention was on her and Adrien. They all wanted to sit with them and they all wanted to be partners with them. The girls weren’t as surprised with Marinette, the pieces fitting in place. Really, the only problem came from the people she wasn’t close with. Especially with Chloe. She would follow her around, and take random pictures of her. She even started being nice to her. She wouldn’t stop getting texts from everybody, and most of them were strangers.  
“Ug, I can’t wait until the day is over.” She said to Adrien. They were in the library studying for their science test.  
“Relax, we have this period to study, and then we can go back to your house.” He said.  
Marinette looked over at Adrien, suddenly very concerned. “I wonder how your father is. Do you think he’s worried.”  
“Na, he’s probably angry, and if I were to go back home, he won’t talk to me.”  
She put a hand on his arm. “Are you sure your ok?”  
He smiled at her. “As long as I’m with you, Milady.”  
“Splendid, spectacular, adorable!”  
Marinette turned toward the voice. Chloe was stalking them from a bookshelf.   
She rolled her eyes. “Chloe, seriously? Can we have not even a little privacy?”  
She came out from her hiding place. “Oh come on, people! As your number one fan, I have to keep tabs on you. Alyas not the only one who can have a blog about you.” She showed us her screen. She had created a blog called the bugaboo facts.  
“Come on Chloe! Only I can call her bugaboo!” Adrien complained.  
“Yes, but this time your on the blog too!”  
Adrien ears perked up. “Really?”  
Marinette stood up and dragged Adrien after her. “Let’s go Adrien. School’s over.”  
“But why? I want to know more about this blog, and what’s being said about me!”  
“Let’s go before you get a big head. I’ll even let you make croissants.”  
Chloe huffed. “But what about my blog!”  
“Sorry Chlo. But I’m where the croissants are.”  
They walked out as Chloe started groaning furiously.

. . .

When they got home, Marinette ran up to her room and logged onto her computer. She had long since change her wallpaper screen to her, Alya, Adrien, and Nino having a picnic at the park. She smiled at the memory, it had been the only time she could contain her emotions around Adrien. She typed in the bugaboo facts, and a whole blog popped up. She read a paragraph. She groaned, having found several things that weren’t true, like her and Chloe being best friends, Marinette having Parties in Queen Bee’s honor, ect.   
Adrien ran up after her. “You ok?”  
She wheeled her chair out o the way, to show him the several false comments on the website.  
He whistled. “Wow. Copying Alya’s blog is one thing. But posting false facts about us is a whole ‘nother story.”  
“Tell me about it.” she replied. “Well, since the teachers thought we were too busy for homework, all we have to do is study.”  
“Which we already did.” Adrien said. “so...Croissants?” he asked.  
She smiled. “I have something better in mind.”  
He followed her into the kitchen, and she started pulling out ingredients.   
“Plain yogurt, strawberries, ice, peanut butter, honey, cocoa powder, milk powder, vanilla extract, and coconut milk.” she said.  
“What are you gonna make?” he asked.  
“It’s supposed to be a shake, but I just call it the smoothie on the go.” she replied. “Here, try some! It’s good.”  
She handed him a cup full, and took a sip. His eyes widened. “Wow! This is really good!”  
She chuckled. “Ya, that’s why I drink it.”  
He stared at her, and the smile grew on his face.  
“Hey, since we have nothing else to do, lets go get some ice cream.” she said.  
“Sure, I just have to change my clothes. Chloe wouldn’t stop hugging me, and now her scent is all over my shirt.”  
Marinette made a face then laughed. “Ya, me too. I don’t want anyone to recognize me from school.”  
Marinette put on a pair of ripped short shorts, a black crop top, and she tied a red plaid shirt around her waist. She wore black converse, and put her hair up in a bun. She didn’t like to put her hair in anything else than pigtails, but if no one has seen her with a bun lately, then it would have to do.  
Adrien wore khaki shorts, and a blue tank top with a zig zag design in the center of the shirt with primary colors. The tank top’s sides were low cut, so it showed off his muscular arms, and if the wind hit him just right, you could see his 6-pack from a side view. He also wore a pair of flip flops, something his dad would flip over.  
He walked down stairs and stared at Marinette. “Marinette,” he quietly gasped. “You look...beautiful.” he said as he walked closer.  
She gently pushed on his chest. “Stop it you flirt. Your just saying that to make me feel better.”  
He stared at her in disbelief. “No, I’m dead serious, you look amazing! You should put your hair up more often. and , possibly wear less pink?” he said cautiously  
She smirked. “Possibly.”  
He laughed, lacing his fingers through hers. “Come on, I found out where andrea is today.”  
Tikki flew down the stairs with Plagg. “Wiat! At least wear these sunglasses, it’ll help your disguises.” she handed them each a pair of sunglasses, and flew into Marinette’s purse.  
“Ug, do I have to go?” whined Plagg.  
“Yeah. But don’t worry, since i’m not wearing my jacket, you can hide in Mariette’s purse.” replied Adrien  
“Noooooooo! It smells like girl in there!” he complained.  
“But this girl has got a whole lot of camembert downstairs.” Marinette said.  
Plagg flew into her purse so fast the couple could feel a breeze.  
They laughed, and walked out of the bakery.  
Today, Andre the ice cream maker was under the Eiffel Tower. They walked up and a smile appeared on his face.   
“Welcome, welcome! I have seen both of your faces before, but not together!” he said.  
The two looked baffled. “You can recognize us with our disguises?” Adrien panicked.  
Andre chuckled. “Not to worry, Andre always recognizes customers of his! But whoever you are hiding from won’t know a thing.”  
“Thank goodness!” Marinette said.  
“Dark like your hair,” he said, looking at Marinette. “Tan like you skin,” he looked at Adrien. He looked over at Marinette again. “And sapphire like your sky blue stare!”  
Adrien pulled out his wallet to pay, but Andre put his massive hand on his. “Not to worry, my boy! It’s on the house. It’s a pleasure enough to have brought the savors of Paris together!”  
They both smiled at Andre. “Thank you Andre! Have a nice day.”  
He nodded at them, and they walked away. They sat on the nearest bench, and shared the ice cream.  
“The Tan is Butter Pecan, the darkest one is Black Raspberry, and the sapphire one is…” Marinette said.  
“Mmmmmm. Blue Moon.” Adrien said with a look of satisfaction. Marinette giggled.  
“I almost forgot! I got you a little something.” Adrien said as he brought out a small box.  
“Adrien, how did you find the time! And it really wasn’t necessary.” said Marinette.  
“But for someone as lovely as you, it is. Now turn around.”  
She did as he said, and she felt something cold touch her chest.  
“Ok, you can look now.” he said as he brought out the camera on his phone.  
She looked into the phone and gasped. It was a silver sterling necklace with a skinny oval shaped opal, with a thin gold strip spiralling around the gem, holding it in place. On the strip of gold were tiny diamonds, making the necklace sparkle. It was beautiful, and the opal shined like the stars.  
Marinette tackled Adrien, and he embraced her. “Oh Adrien it’s beautiful! I love it! Thank you! How ever did you afford it?”  
He chuckled. “When your a model, you have your connections.”  
Marinette let go of him, her face lighting up like the sun, but for the first time, she seemed to notice a strange white limosin following them around, from a distance of course, but following them all the same. Adrien turned around to see what she was looking at. All the color drained from his face.   
“We need to get out of here.” he said, dragging marinette after him.  
“Why, what’s wrong?” she asked.  
“That’s my bodyguards limo. He must suspect who we are.”  
Marinette’s face turned white. “What do we do? If we run away, he’ll follow us. If we stay here, he’ll confront us!”  
Adrien looked around, and snapped his fingers. “Are you afraid of spiders?”  
“Um, yes?” she asked.  
“Good, me too. See that store over there, they have all sorts of critters. Their bound to have them.”  
Marinette’s eyes widened. “Oh no. Not there. Never in my life.”  
He forced a smile. “Pretend I just said something really funny and smile. We need to go in there without hesitation, without fear, without turning back. I’m not excited about this either, but my bodyguards know what i’m afraid of. If we go in there, they’ll think were someone else, and stop following us around. Then we can go out into the alleyway and escape.”  
Marinette gulped, but nodded. “Ok.”  
As they made their way to the store, the limo slowly followed them. Mariette squeezed Adrien’s fingers, and he squeezed back, letting her know that he knew. She wanted to walked faster, she wanted to run away and hide forever, but she knew she had to keep at a slow pace, otherwise Adrien’s bodyguard would catch on.  
Adrien opened the door for Marinette, and she walked in. they casually closed the door, and walked to the spiders, and kept their heads low. It was mortifying having to watch them. She could practically feel their hairy legs crawling on her back.  
They waited 3 minutes. 5 minutes. 7 minutes. After 10 minutes Adrien turned around, acting like he was walking towards the snakes, and peeked out the window.   
He let out a long sigh. “Their gone.”  
“Oh thank goodness.” said Marinette. They walked out of the store, checking one last time if the coast was clear, and ran into the ally way. As Marinette ran out, she felt something touch her shoulder, and she turned around, but no one was there. She thought she saw someone run into the alleyway a few blocks down from them, but thought nothing of it, and followed Adrien.  
“That was a close one.” she said.  
“I’ll say.” Adrien replied. “We need to get out of here. Plagg, Claws Out!”  
Plagg flew into his ring, and black leather started to materialize all over his body, turning him into Chat Noir.  
Marinette smiled. “Tikki-”  
“Wait!” Said Chat Noir.  
Marinette stopped. “What is it?”  
Chat Noir scooped Marinette up princess style, making her roll her eyes. “If you transform, we’ll be easier to spot. My suit is all black, and the sun has started going down, which means more shadows. It’ll be easier for me to hide in them.”  
“If you say so kitty.” she sighed.  
He jumped from roof to roof, while Marinette clung to him for dear life. She was used to the heights, but being so high up without her yoyo was scary. Chat looked down, and smiled. He kissed her on the forehead, and ran faster. She took a chance and looked behind them. The white limo was still following them.  
She cursed. “Chat Noir!”  
“What is it?” he asked, slowing down enough to hear her.  
She pointed behind them, and he followed her gaze.  
“Oh my gosh, why!” he said as he began running harder.  
“Try taking some wrong turns, go farther than the bakery, lead him astray, and when you're sure that the limo is gone, we can go back.” Marinette said.  
“Hmmmmm…that might actually work! Ok, let’s try it.”  
They continued running, taking wrong turns, everything they could think of, but they couldn’t lose him.  
“He’s not leaving!” Marinette sighed. “I have to transform.”  
“What? No! You can’t do that!” Chat exclaimed.  
“Chat, I have to, all i’m doing is slowing you down.” she gave him a brave smile. “Besides, even you can’t outrun me.”  
“Hey!...well, that is true. Ok, i’ll set you down over there.” Chat said.  
He lept over a building, over a wall, and into an ally way. He set her down.  
“Thanks kitty.” Marinette said.  
“No problem princess.” he stepped forward, and Marinette did the same. They leaned towards each other, and kissed. Chat died and went to heaven. He must have. Even though he’s kissed her before, it still seemed unreal.   
They pulled away, and marinette poked his nose, like she use to when they weren’t dating. “You better go. Try leading him in the wrong direction. Let’s meet up at my house at...what time is it, 6:30? So, let’s meet up at 7:00. Ok?”  
“Ok.” Chat replied.  
“Tikki, Spots On!” the air around Marinette erupted in a brilliant red light, the red suit forming down Marinette’s arms and legs, her mask appearing on her face, and ribbons wrapping around her pigtails.  
“Alright kitty, lets go!” she said.  
They both jumped out of the alleyway, the limo only a few yards away from them. The hero's looked at eachother, nodded, and went their ways. Ladybug ran around buildings, through windows, over alleyways, everything. Pedestrian’s would stare in awe, knowing their names. Ladybug would wave, and continue to run. She didn't look behind her until she was sure she had lost the limo. She was mistaken. It seems as if the limo had lost interest in Chat Noir, and had decided to follow her instead. She slowed to a stop, took out her yoyo, and dialed Chat’s number.  
“Chat!” she yelled.  
“Yes milady?” he asked.  
“You can stop running, because the car isn’t following you anymore.” she said, out of breath.  
“Well if he’s not following us anymore, how come your still running?” he asked.  
“No, I said that your not being followed. The limo is only after me, and i’m losing my energy fats. No matter what I do, he somehow knows where I am.”  
“Um, bugaboo?” he asked nervously.  
“Ya?” she replied.  
“What’s that noise?”  
“Huh? What noise?”  
“That beeping noise. It sounds close.”  
She stopped and listened. She heard the beeping noise, and it was right behind her. She turned around, but now it was behind her again. She turned once again, only to see nothing. The beeping noise was all around her. But then how come it sounded so close.She remembered when she and Adrien had first gone out of the gross critters store. She remembered she had felt something touch her shoulder, and how she had seen someone slip into an alleyway in the opposite direction of where she was. Was it possible…  
She put her hand on her shoulder, and pulled of a small device the shape of a circle with a glowing red dot on it. And it was making the beeping noise.  
She screeched.  
“What, what is it!” Chat exclaimed.  
“I knew it! They’ve been tracking us. But why? Why would he?” Ladybug wondered aloud.  
“Who? Who’s been tracking us?”  
Ladybug started to run again. “Your father. Before we got to the alleyway outside of the mask, I felt someone touch my shoulder, but I didn’t think anything of it! Your father had someone put a tracking device on me, and it somehow transformed with me!”  
Chat gasped. “But why? Why would he do this.”  
“I don't know.” she growled. “But i’m going to get to the bottom of this.”  
She hung up, and ran so fast, the pigeons looked like the were running in slow motion. She ran to the end of Paris, and ducked behind a building. She stopped to take a breather, and when her heart rate went down, she stuck the tracker to the back of the shop.  
“Have fun tracking your new buddy...The Happy Homes and Gardens Restaurant.” she said, reading the sign. She ran a few block to the side of the shop, and continued her journey home, to avoid getting spotted by Adrien’s bodyguard. The sun had gone down, so she had better cover than she did a few minutes ago. When she finally made it to her house, it was past 9, and Chat had gotten really worried. She came into her room through the hatch above her bed, and let go of her transformation. She changed into a pair of sweatpants and a black spaghetti strapped tank top, plopped onto her bed, let out and exhausted sigh, and closed her eyes.  
Everything after that was a blur. She was so exhausted that she didn’t even really comprehend anything. She heard footsteps on her stairs, and then a pair of arms embracing her. She felt something cold and wet on her chest, then something warm coursed through her body as a pair of lips touched hers. She felt her body get lifted up, then placed back down on the bed, then a warm blanket covered her body. The last thing she remembered was a kiss on her forehead.

. . .

She woke up in the middle of the night, and the moon light was shining through the window above her bed. She sat up, and groggily wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She looked around her. Plagg and Tikki were sleeping on a pillow on her desk, and Adrien was sleeping next to the stairs. She was about to go back to sleep, when she heard a knock. It was very faint, but it was still there.  
“Who could be awake at this hour?” she wondered.  
She waited, wondering if she had imagined it, but then she heard it again. A soft knock, knock, knock. She got up, and quietly walked over to Adrien.  
“Adrien!” she whispered.  
No response.  
“Adrien!” she said again, lightly shaking his shoulder.  
His eyes opened up, and he quickly sat up. “What, who, where?”  
“There’s someone at the door!” she said.  
“What...what time is it?” he rubbed his eyes and yawned.  
“Too late to be awake.” she said.  
He stood up, and took her hand. “Do you want me to transform?”  
“No.” Marinette responded. “Stay up here and listen. I don’t want anyone who’s been looking for you to know that your here.”  
“Are you sure?” he asked, looking concerned.  
“Ya. I’ll be ok. This is Ladybug your talking to.” she said.  
She hugged him, then she walked down stairs. As she walked towards the door, the knocking got louder. She put her ear up to the door, but she didn’t hear anything. No breathing, no talking, no footsteps, nothing. She ran to the pantry, and grabbed the baseball bat. Her parents told her to keep it there for when she was alone at night. she slowly walked to the door, careful to not make a sound She counted to three, and opened the door, the baseball bat raised over her head. But nobody was there. She poked her head out the doorway, looking right, then looking left. No one. She heard the knocking again. It was coming from below here.  
“What in the world?” she wondered.  
She ran down the stairs, careful not to disturb anyone. She looked out the door to the apartment, but no one was there. Confused, she turned around. She yelped. Standing at the bottom of the stairs right behind her was a tall, muscular man, wearing a white mask with only two holes to see through. With lightning reflexes, he stretched out his hand, and grabbed her arm. She screamed, and wacked his arm with the baseball bat. He yelled out in pain, and tried to grab her other arm. She ran to the bakery door, but the door was locked.  
“Oh you have got to be kidding me. Not now!” she said.  
The man put a large hand on her shoulder, and grabbed the baseball bat. She tried to kick him, but he picked her up, and put her over his shoulder. She saw him bring out a bottle, and a white cloth.   
Her eyes widened, and she screamed. “Chat Noir! Help!”  
She saw a flash of green at the top of the stairs, and Chat flew down the stairs. He used his pole to vault off of the stairs, and kicked the man in the back. He yelled out in pain, and dropped Marinette.  
“Get behind me!” Chat yelled.  
She grabbed the baseball bat from the ground, and ran behind him.  
“Call the police!” Chat yelled.  
She ran upstairs, and grabbed her phone. She dialed 17, and waited.  
“17 emergency, how can we help you?” came a voice from the other side of the phone.  
“Help! Some crazy stranger tried to kidnap me, and now he’s fighting Chat Noir!” Marinette yelled.  
“Where is this event taking place?” the voice said, sounding concerned.  
“The Dupain-Cheng bakery, right next to the Dupont Francais high school! Please hurry!” she hung up, and ran up to her room.   
“Tikki where are you!” she called.  
Tikki flew to her, and hovered in front of her face. “I’m ready! Just say the words!”  
“Tikki, Spots On!”  
Marinette felt a surge of energy course through her body as her suit materialized around her. In seconds, Ladybug was standing in Marinette’s place. She ran down the stairs, and brought out her yoyo. Chat Noir was holding out, but he was running out of energy. She threw her yoyo around the man, pulling his arms to his side. Chat knocked him over, and grabbed the mask. He gasped.   
“Gorilla?” he said.  
Ladybug looked at the man’s face, and she too gasped. It was Adrien’s bodyguard  
Just then the police ran in, expecting to pick a fight, only to see that Ladybug and Chat Noir had already handled it.   
“Oh, thanks Ladybug and Chat Noir.” One of the policeman said.  
They took him to the police car, and drove away, but the hero’s still stood there, shocked.  
“Why, why would your body guard attack me?” Marinette asked, having let go of her transformation.  
“I don't know.” Chat let go of his transformation as well.  
Tikki gasped. “Remember when you borrowed the hero book from Adrien, and Master fu said that the owner of it might be Hawkmoth?”  
“Wait a minute, who’s Master Fu?” Adrien asked.  
“Whoops, I guess I forgot to mention him.” Marinette said, nervously chuckling. “He’s the person we got our Miraculous from. He keeps all of the miraculous safe from Hawkmoth. Remember all those times that I left in the middle of a fight. Like the one time when Rena Rouge helped us? My lucky Charm was telling me to go to him to get extra help.”  
Adrien gasped. “That’s why you left. Ooooooh.”   
“Ya, but Tikki, what were you saying?” Marinette asked.  
“Remember how the owner of the book was Gabriel Agreste?”  
“Tikki, what are you saying?” Adrien asked, worry written all over his face.  
“I’m saying that what if Gabriel is hawkmoth! Whenever he akumatized that little boy into Sandboy, we were trying to contact Nooroo, remember? And hawkmoth somehow overrided our signal and we heard his voice! And now that i’m thinking about it, they sound exactly the same! And as soon as he found out who you two were, he sent Adrien’s Bodyguard after Marinette to get her Miraculous! He must’ve wanted to use her as bait again, not knowing that you were here!”  
Marinette gasped, then looked over at Adrien.  
“Adrien, are you ok?” she asked, putting her hand over his.  
He took a deep breath, and looked back at her. “Ya...ya i’m ok. It’s just...it all makes sense now. Why he never leaves his house, why he didn’t want me to be Chat Noir, and why he wanted me to give him the ring and stop being a superhero.” He scooped Marinette up and kissed her on the cheek. “Let’s just sleep on it, ok?”  
She put her head on his chest. “Ok.”


	5. The Beginning

Marinette woke up in the dead of night. She was tied up and gagged in Hawkmoth’s layer. Hawkmoth had taken her miraculous, and Chat Noir had beads of sweat all over his body, while he fought the villain. She kept screaming his name, but it was as if he couldn’t hear her. Hawkmoth kicked him in the stomach, and that sent him rolling on the ground, groaning out in pain. Hawkmoth pulled apart his staff, revealing a spear. He walked over to Chat Noir, and pressed his foot on his chest. Marinette tried to warn Chat Noir, but he didn’t move. Hawkmoth raised the spear, and plunged it into his heart.  
Marinette screamed, and quickly sat up in her bed. Her body was covered in a cold sweat, and her face was stained with tears.  
Adrien ran up the stairs, looking worried. “Marinette...oh,” he let out a breath. “Your all right.” he studied her face, and sat down next to her. “Hey, are you alright?”  
She wiped her eyes and sniffled. “Ya...ya, I just...I just had a bad dream last night.”  
“Well,” he asked. “What was it about?”  
She sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled. “I-I dreamt I was tied up in Hawkmoth’s layer, he had taken my miraculous. You were fighting him, trying to save me…” her voice cracked up, new tears streaming down her face. “...when, when he kicked you to the ground. He brought out a spear...and he...he...stabbed you...and I, I couldn’t do anything. I was tied up again, helpless. I couldn’t do anything to save you.”  
He put his arms around her, and pulled her into a hug. “Hey, it’s ok.”  
She rested her head in his chest and sobbed. “I couldn’t do anything! Nothing at all to save you. I kept you from surviving. And you died because of me.”  
He slowly rubbed her back. “Yes, but it’s because of you that Hawkmoth doesn’t have my miraculous. If you hadn’t taken me in,” he lifted her head up, looking into her eyes. “Then Paris would only have one superhero to be protected by. I will never, never, let anything like that happen to you ever again.”  
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and hugged her again.  
She sighed. “Thanks, Adrien. We better get going to school, or else we’ll be late.”  
Marinette wore a white lace dress that slowly turned pink at the ends. The dress went about an inch above her knees, and she wore a skinny braided leather belt that accented her waist line. She wore a jean jacket over the dress, white converse, and decided to carry around a small light brown leather purse around instead of the usual pink polka dotted one. She put on the smallest amount of foundation, white eyeshadow that sparkled in the sun, eyeliner, and mascara. She decided to appease Adrien, and put her hair up in a messy bun. She also wore the necklace that he gave her yesterday, and the lucky charm that he gave her on her birthday. She walked downstairs and sat on the couch, waiting for Adrien to be ready.  
When he finally came down, she smiled. He had chosen the perfect combination of clothes she had gave him. He wore a white t shirt, which accented his lean, muscular figure, dark jeans, white converse, and a light blue jean jacket with a cotton hood and sleeves unzipped over his shirt. He also wore the lucky charm she had given him.  
Marinette stood. “You, Mr. Agreste, look handsome.”  
He offered her his arm. “And you, Miss Dupain-Cheng, look beautiful, like always.”  
She took his arm and rolled her eyes. “Your such a flirt.”  
“But i’m your flirt” he kissed her cheek.  
She giggled  
“Shall we, Madame?” he said, trying to act formal.  
She reciprocated his tone. “Yes, we shall, kind sir.”  
They laughed, and walked out the door.

 

. . .

When they arrived at school, they met up with Alya and Nino, who were sitting on a bench. They walked over to them and sat down  
“Aw! You two are matching!” Alya cooed.  
Adrien and Marinette looked at each other’s outfits, and laughed.  
“We didn’t even plan to match.” Marinette giggled.  
“Yo, wassup man?” Nino said  
Him and Adrien man hugged. “Nothing much.” he looked at Marinette, and she nodded in approval. “But, something happened last night.”  
“What happened?” Alya said, suddenly very concerned.  
“Well first, me and Marinette wore disguises and got ice cream. The disguises were just in case someone was looking for me. We saw my bodyguard and hid in a store. After a few minutes, we ducked into an alleyway.”  
“While I was going into the alleyway,” Marinette said. “I felt something touch my shoulder. When I turned around, no one was there. Adrien transformed and started carrying me home-”  
“Awwwwww! You gentleman!” Alya cried.  
Adrien’s face turned bright red. “Ya, ya, it’s cause my suit is black, so, ya know, it would have been easier to blend in.”  
“Sure romeo.” Alya said  
“Anyway,” Marinette said. “We couldn’t get away from the limo, it wouldn’t stop following us. So I transformed, and we split up. The limo stopped following Adrien, and only followed me. I called Adrien, and he noticed a beeping noise in the background. Adrien’s bodyguard had put a tracker on me. So I ran to the edge of Paris, stuck the tracker on a restaurant, and ran home.”  
Alya gasped. “Do you know what this kind of information could mean!?”  
“There’s more.” Adrien said. “Marinette woke up in the middle of the night to a knocking noise, so she woke me up. I wanted to go answer the door, but that’s too risky. I volunteered to transform, but Marinette didn’t want me to, because it might have been my father. Marinette, i’ll let you take it from here.”  
“So I went downstairs,” Marinette continued. “And grabbed the baseball bat from the pantry.”  
“Woah! Why’d you have a baseball bat in your pantry dude?” Nino exclaimed.  
“For situations like this, now shush! I opened up the door, but no one was there. Then i heard the knocking again downstairs. When got to the bottom of the stairs, i opened the door, but no one was there. I turned around, and this creepy man was standing in front of the stairs. He was tall, muscular, and wearing a white mask that only had eye holes. He attacked me, and tried to put me to sleep with chloroform, but Chat Noi- I mean Adrien, got there first. I transformed and we pinned him down by the time the police arrived. We took off his mask, and it was,” Marinette looked at Adrien with sympathy, and question. He nodded, and she took in a deep breath. “It was Adrien’s bodyguard.”  
Alya gasped. “Woah, HUGE SCOOP!”  
“Alya…” Nino said softly.  
“Yeah yeah, I know. What do you think this means?”  
“Well,” Adrien said. “We talked it over with Tikki and Plagg, and we think-” he motioned them forward, whispering everything after that. “We think my father is Hawkmoth.”  
Alya screeched, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “YOU THINK YOUR FATH-”  
“Shhhh!” Adrien said, putting a hand over her mouth.  
“Gee, Alya. could you say it a little louder? I don't think Canada heard you yet.” Marinette said sarcastically.  
Alya rolled her eyes. “That can be arranged.”  
She stood and opened her mouth to speak, but not before Nino covered her mouth and pulled her back down.  
“Kidding.” she said.  
Marinette was about to speak, but the bell rang. “Come one, lets go to class before Chloe shows up.

. . .

Marinette and Adrien sat down, and Chloe walked in. she looked sad, which made Marinette question what had made her this way.  
‘Wait, why am I feeling this way? Especially for her?’ Marinette thought.  
Chloe walked over to her and looked down at her feet. For some strange reason, Marinette felt bad for her.  
“Chloe, are you ok?” she asked, cautiously.  
“Ya. So, you know how i’ve been trying to take a picture with you?”  
“Several.” Marinette corrected.  
“Ya, well, i’ve been taking the pictures because, well, there’s not a single picture where your smiling.” a small tear traced down her cheek.  
Marinette felt so bad, she didn’t know that Chloe just wanted one picture with her idol.  
“Oh, i’m sorry Chloe, we can take a picture if you want.”  
Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. She wiped the tear off her cheek. “Really? You would do that? But why? All i’ve been to you is mean.”  
Marinette stood and put her arm around Chloe's shoulder. “Ya, but Ladybug is your idol, and if you just wanted a picture with me smiling all you had to do is ask. A little kindness won't hurt.”  
They took a picture, and Marinette smiled.  
Chloe smiled. “Thanks Marinette.”  
She walked away, and did a quiet squeal. Marinette sat back down.  
“Well that was nice of you.” Adrien said.  
“Yeah, Maybe all she needs is a little kindness, and then maybe she’ll act the same way. Eventually.” she said  
The rest of the day went dreadfully slow. Everytime the phone rang, Adrien tensed, Marinette’s face turned ghost white, and their hearts skipped a few beats. But none of the calls were for them. They were safe, for a while. They went home immediately after school, practically running all the way. They ran into the apartment, and Marinette locked the door.  
“What are we going to do now?” Adrien asked. “We can’t keep this up. We don’t have actual proof that my father is Hawkmoth, but if he is, then it will be nearly impossible to run from him and protect Paris.  
“Adrien!” Plagg complained. “Less talking. More cheese!”  
“Oh Plagg, you big baby!” Tikki flew out of Marinette’s bag. “Give the two some time to talk! It’s either cheese, or you keep fighting for days on end.”  
Plagg thought for a few moments. “Will it include cheese?”  
Tikki face-palmed. “Come on Plagg! You have got to be kidding me! Just stay quiet and you can have cheese later!”  
The hero's sat down on the couch. Marinette had a plan, but it was risky. It would either go as planned, or it would backfire. There was a lot of faith going into this, and a very slim chance that it would work.  
But regardless, Marinette didn’t have a choice. “I know what we need to do, but we need to be quick. We’ll leave at sunset.”  
“What’s the plan, milady? Attacking Hawkmoth while he’s asleep?” Adrien asked.  
“No, we need a little help from an old friend of mine.” Marinette said.  
“Marinette, are you sure? Don’t you think it’s a little risky?” Tikki asked.  
“Yes Tikki. I know the risks, but in order to defeat Hawkmoth, it needs to be done.” Marinette said.  
“Whose this friend of yours? Someone i’ve met before?”  
“Nope. It’s the man who made all of this possible. I think it’s time you met Master Fu.”

. . .

They left at sunset, leaping from roof to roof in the shadows, careful not to make a sound. They stopped at a rooftop.  
“So, what exactly are we looking for?” Asked Chat.  
“A trap door. Look for a trap door.” Ladybug replied.  
“Found it.” he called.  
She ran over to him, and looked down. The trap door had a window, a handle, and a lock.  
“How are we going to get-” Chat started.  
“Way ahead of you.” Ladybug replied. She brought out a key, which Master Fu had given her to use for emergencies, and unlocked the trap door. The two jumped inside, and tiptoed to the end of the hall. Ladybug opened up her yoyo, and used the X-ray vision to make sure no one else was inside. Master Fu was eating noodles, but besides him, she saw no one else inside.  
She opened up the door, and he stood up. “Master Fu.”  
They walked inside, and Chat Noir closed the door.  
Master Fu turned around, and regarded them with kind eyes. “Ladybug and Chat Noir. it’s so nice to see the both of you together.”  
They let go of their transformations, and Adrien extended his hand toward Master Fu. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too sir.”  
Master Fu shook it. “What seems to be the problem, besides the whole world knowing who you two really are.”  
“Master,” Marinette said. “We have been trying to keep on the down low, but we think we know who Hawkmoth is.  
Marinette told him everything, Adrien occasionally jumping in to say details she didn’t mention. As they continued telling the story, deep worry lines appeared on Master Fu’s forehead.  
Master Fu sighed. “This is not good. Although I would like to say it’s not true, your accusations make sense. What is your plan?”  
“Our plan?” Adrien asked. “Well, for starters, we're gonna need some doritos, maybe some Dr Pepper…” he winked at Marinette.  
She rolled her eyes, and gently punched his arm. “Well...I was thinking that we are definitely going to need back up. So, i’m thinking we need to give out the miraculous.”  
Master Fu’s eyes widened. “All of them?”  
“No, just a few. We're gonna need Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee.”  
“Is there anyone else you can trust to help you with this assignment.”  
“No. We need to stick to the people we trust, and know how to use a miraculous, otherwise others are going to push us to give them a miraculous, too.”  
Master Fu thought for a moment, then nodded. “It is not wise to have more then one miraculous holder at a time, but i took a risk on you two, and your doing just fine. I would not recommend bringing out more miraculous, but if you believe you need them, i will not stop you. I have been watching your progress, and you have improved your fighting techniques quicker than any miraculous holder I have seen so far. I trust you two, so please don’t give me a reason not too.”  
They stood, and bowed. “Thank you Master Fu, we won't let you down. We’ll come to you when the time is right, Master.” Marinette said  
They transformed, said one last goodbye, and snuck out into the night.

. . .

They leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Chat Noir was the first one to get out of the building, so he was ahead of Ladybug. They jumped from roof to roof, enjoying the summer breeze. Chat stopped to let Ladybug catch up. When he heard her land, he looked her over. She had taken his suggestion about different hair styles. The top part of her hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, while the rest of her hair was straight. Her bluebell eyes were accented by the moonlight streaming down on her face, the soft breeze slowly blowing her hair in slow motion.  
She turned to look at him, smiling. “What are you thinking?”  
“Why?”  
She laughed. “You’ve got a funny look on your face.”  
“I was just thinking how beautiful you are.”  
She smirked, and scratched his chin, earning a purr. “Silly kitty. I have a secret to tell you.”  
He lifted an eyebrow. “Keeping secrets from your boyfriend, eh?”  
She rolled her eyes.”do you want to know that secret or not?”  
He nodded, and she motioned him forward. She looked around her, then put her lips up to his ear. Just when she was about to talk, she stood up and touched his shoulder, running away.  
“Your it kitty!” she laughed with delight.  
“Oh, you wanna play tag? Your on!” Chat leapt after Ladybug.  
They raced among the rooftops, alleyways, and streets of Paris. Chat laughed, letting the wind engulf him. Playing tag seemed like a childish thing to do, but when your a superhero who can go anywhere, it made the game ten times more challenging. He used his baton to vault over the houses faster, landing inches away from Ladybug. She turned around, smiling and laughing. When she saw him, she gasped, then she smiled, sneakily glaring at. He extended his hand, trying to grasp her hair, but she flung her yoyo several feet in front of them, and sped away. He took this as a challenge, and changed courses. While she wasn’t looking, he slipped into an alleyway, letting her run alone. He ran faster through the streets, past buildings, until he was positive he was in front of her. He opened up his baton, checking how far Ladybug was from him. When she was only a few feet from him, he leapt up in the air, tackling a very surprised Ladybug. They rolled across a roof, coming to a stop. Chat put his hands on either side of her head.  
“Gotcha.” he said, feeling very proud of himself.  
She laughed. “Yes. Yes you did kitty. And for the first time, too!”  
He stood, and helped her up. It was almost dawn, a Saturday. They sat down on a ledge of The Eiffel Tower, watching as the city of love woke up from their sleep. Chat Noir put an arm around Ladybugs shoulders, and used the other one to hold her hand.  
Ladybug slowly closing her eyes, and rested her head on his shoulder, yawning in between words.. “I’m just...gonna close...my eyes...for...5 min...5 minutes…”  
Chat Noir chuckled as she fell asleep, resting his head on hers. His tail swished happily, enjoying the moment. The sun was rising behind them, warming their bodies. He was about to think all was well when he heard a loud boom, and a scream.  
“I’M UP!” Ladybug said, waking from her nap. She rubbed her eyes. “What’s going on?”  
“Beats me.” Chat responded.  
“Do you think it’s dangerous?”  
“Purrobably.”  
“Ok. let’s go check it out.”  
They stood and ran across the streets, and onto the roof tops. When they finally got to the scene of the crime, they didn't know what was happening. Someone was dressed in a really big fluffy blue dress. And I mean really fluffy. It looked like they were from medieval times. Then they saw the source of the problem. He looked like a really nerdy teacher. He was wearing brown dress shoes, khaki shorts, big thin rimmed glasses over a black mask, and a blue and purple plaid vest over a long sleeve white shirt with a yellow bow tie to finish it off. He didn’t look like much, but he was holding a small whiteboard and a marker, going around writing words on it. Everytime he wrote, he wrote very fast. When he was done, someone on the streets was engulfed with light. When the light subsided, they were wearing fancy clothing that hadn’t been worn in centuries. Ball gowns, elegant suits, etc.  
“So, i’m guessing that’s an akuma.” Chat Noir observed  
“Ya, no duh.” Ladybug rolled h.er eyes.  
She brought out her yoyo, and used it to see what the akuma was writing. “He’s insane.”  
“Why? What’s he writing?” Chat asked.  
“He’s just looking at people while writing down names.”  
She looked at the area around the akuma, and spotted Alya video taping everything.  
“Oh my gosh, Alya. At a time like this?”  
Chat brought out his baton and looked at the akuma. “Uh, milady?”  
“Ya?”  
“Look at what he’s writing.”  
By the time she zoomed in on the whiteboard, it was too late. On the whiteboard was Alya’s name. As soon as he finished writing her name, a pillar of light engulfed Alya, turning her into a 21st century teen wearing a 17th century dress. Ladybug gasped a little too loudly because the akuma turned around, looked at them, and smiled.  
“Ladybug and Chat Noir. I have waited to meet for years.” he said. His voice was surprisingly squeaky for a 40 year old man. Maybe that’s why he got akumatized.  
“You got akumatized five minutes ago.” Ladybug said matter of factly.  
They hopped down from the roof, standing 15 feet in front of him.  
“You wanna know what I love about white boards.” Chat asked.  
“No.” the akuma responded.  
“Their extremely-”  
“Chat,” Ladybug said. “Don’t you dare.”  
Chat smirked. “Re-mark-able.”  
Ladybug and the Akuma both stared at him as he grinned, looking proud of himself.  
The akuma pointed to him, looking at Ladybug. “Your dating this guy?”  
“I’m starting to regret my decision.” Ladybug grumbled.  
“Hey! I’m right here ya know.” Chat whined.  
“Just kidding kitty.” Ladybug poked his chest.  
“Are you sure, because it seems li-”  
“Ok, this is getting really weird.” said the akuma. He uncapped his marker, and was about to start writing when Ladybug intervened.  
“Wiat!” she yelled.  
He stopped and looked up.  
Ok, she thought. He is definitely different from the other akumas.  
“Before we fight you,” she said slowly, “What is your name?”  
“My name?” he chuckled. “My name is Medievalator! And I will destroy you!”  
He uncapped his marker and began to write.  
“Chat Noir watch out!” Ladybug yelled.  
Chat Noir ran behind a building, and Ladybug followed him. But it was too late. She was too far behind him, and Medievalator was watching her every move. She just about made it.  
“Ladybug…” Chat tried to say. He was too late. She stopped in her tracks, and was engulfed in a brilliant pillar of light. When the light subsided, she looked like a totally different person.  
She had the same hair style, but it was topped with a beautiful tiara. The tirara was rose gold, with five open circles in the front. The middle circle had a line growing up the middle, stopped in the center by a small dot. On top of the middle circle was three smaller filled in circles, stacked neatly on top of eachother, and the tiara was lined with small elegant diamonds that sparkled in the morning sun. Her dress, oh, her dress was breathtaking. Although it was simple, that made it even more beautiful. Her dress hugged her snuggly, and gradually widened from the knees down, going 1 foot past her feet.. It was pure white, the sleeves were long, and the neckline was a v-neck, showing 2 inches of her chest maximum, but that didn’t stop Chat Noir from blushing. Starting at the waist, a long piece of light pink chiffon flowed down the dress to its ends. A long strand of chiffon was attached 3 inches above Ladybug’s elbows, moving with the wind and wherever her arms moved. And to top of her dress, there was a shimmery piece of cloth wrapped around her waist under the chiffon, and the rest of the cloth was sown down the front of her dress. Her face was stunning. She wore mascara that made her eyelashes look longer, foundation that made her skin look softer, but not too much, highlighter that gave her more of a button nose, and a dark shade of fiery fuchsia lipgloss. The most surprising part was her mask. Her mask covered the same portion of her face, but it was white, topped with a thin layer of white lace, making her look even more beautiful. Even her earrings were completely white!  
She looked down at her body, and gasped. “What the…”  
The Medievalator laughed. “Now you won’t be able to defeat me!”  
Ladybug tried to run, but tripped. Chat Noir caught her just before she hit the ground. She silently cursed. “Stupid high heels.” she took them off and threw then into the trash can.  
“Ah, that’s better.” she said wiggling her toes. She grabbed at her hip, as if trying to reach something. She looked down and moaned. “He took my yoyo!” She marched around the corner and looked the akuma in the eyes. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! YOU TOOK MY YOYO! WHAT THE HECK!NOT COOL MAN!”  
Chat Noir pulled her back around the corner. “Maybe we should talk about this later Princess.”  
She huffed. “I hate being useless.”  
Chat put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re not useless, and you never will be. Your just temporarily disabled...ish.”  
He peeked around the corner, and looked back at her. “He’s not there anymore. I’m gonna try to track him down.”  
“No! Don’t leave…” she began, but he was already a few houses away.  
She rubbed her arms. “So much for being a team.” she looked around the corner, and saw nothing, just as Chat had said. What she did see, were footprints leading behind the building. “What the…”  
She felt a hand on her shoulder. She slapped the hand, turned around, and used the momentum to swing her led up in her approachers face. It was the akuma. He doubled over in pain, and Ladybug held up her fists, expecting a fight.  
“How are you so strong?” he asked, wiping the trickle of blood running down the side of his mouth.  
“I took karate when I was 10.” she said, cracking her neck.  
He stood. “So did I.”  
He lunged at her, punching at her face. She blocked his every move, never tiring. It wasn’t going well for him, so he changed tactics. He did a back handspring, swung his foot in the air, and held his hand out flat, motioning her forward. She made punches to his face, his sides, his stomach, everything. She even tried to swipe under his feet. But he blocked everything. She began to tire, but he did not. Her movements were getting sluggish, and every move she had to block was harder than the last. It was hard enough trying to fight in a dress longer than you were. He sensed she was tiring and swung at her feet. She jumped, and punched at his face. Medievalator caught it 2 inches in front of his face, and slowly bent it downwards, evilly smiling. He used his other hand to grab at her earrings. He had almost taken them off when someone yelled.  
“What the-” he said.  
Chat jumped from a balcony above, extending his baton onto Medievalator’s face. He scooped up Ladybug, softly kissing her forehead.  
“You could’ve called my name Purrincess.” he softly said.  
“I had it under control...for a while.” she admitted.  
“But still. Im supposed to protect you. Don’t hesitate to call me when you need to.”  
She smiled, then looked over at the akuma. Her eyes widened. “Chat! Look out!”  
He engulfed in a brilliant light, and was transformed into a knight in shining armor.  
“No!” Ladybug cried.  
He wore a chainmail shirt, that was cut on the sides, that went down mid thigh, covered by a white shirt, that was also cut on both sides, that was an inch smaller than the chain mail. There was a large piece of metal on both of his shoulders that were pinned to his shirt, holding them in place he wore thin dark pants, and leather boots. At his wrists were cloth cuffs that were printed with fancy designs. The chain mail at the base of his neck was slightly shaggier, giving his neck room to breath, and allowing a place for sweat to escape. He also had a sword strapped to his waist. His hair was neatly combed, looking like it would when he was just Adrien. His mask was black, and he still had his cat ears at the top of his head.  
Medievalator laughed maniacally. “Now you will never be able to defeat me!”  
Chat Noir rested his head against Ladybug’s, making her blush. “I’m sorry Princess.”  
He softly kissed her, and took off running.  
“Where are you going?” called the akuma. “Do you really think you can escape me?”  
When they were a safe distance away, Chat placed Ladybug down. There were some pedestrians around, and they had begun taking pictures.  
Chat took out his sword, and examined it. It was a steel blade with a black leather hilt, and on the side of the hilt, a paw glowed bright green. “I wonder..” he pressed a button, what he assumed was the lowest setting, and the sword extended two feet.  
Ladybug groaned. “So he takes away my yoyo and your baton, but only replaces your weapon! No fair!”  
“Well, that’s probably because,” Chat dipped Ladybug down. “I’m a knight in shining armor protecting his Princess.” he kissed her, and all around them, people ooed and awed. It started quick, and ended just as quickly.  
“How are we supposed to defeat him if we can’t use my lucky charm?” Ladybug wondered.  
“Maybe we don’t need a lucky charm.” Chat responded.  
“What do you mean?”  
Chat examined his sword. “While we were watching the akuma, I noticed that all of the couples were wearing dresses and tuxedos. But why not us? Maybe your lucky charm powers were transferred to me, temporarily, so I could still have a weapon?”  
“I don’t know Chat, I mean that’s a pretty big stretch.”  
“Lucky charm or not, at least we have something to defend ourselves with.”  
Chat put his arm around Ladybug’s waist, extended his sword, and leapt off towards the sound of commotion. The Midevialator didn’t seem in a rush to catch up with them. Infact, it didn’t look like he cared. He just kept on strolling down the streets, writing down names and staring at people.  
Chat rubbed his neck. “I’ve got nothing.”  
Ladybug examined the akuma, everything he was doing, how he was walking, what he was wearing...wait, he was wearing glasses. And from the angle they were looking at him from, it looked like his glasses wear at least an inch thick, meaning he had really bad vision.  
Ladybug snapped her fingers, making chat jump. “I know what to do!”  
She whispered the plan to him, and Chat nodded. “Ok, you distract him from the front, i’ll get him from behind.” They dropped down in an alleyway, and went in opposite directions.  
“Hey, glasses!” Ladybug called.  
The akuma turned towards her. “Who you calling glasses!”  
She scoffed. “You, of course. I mean, how do you keep those things on your face?”  
His face turned bright red. “Excuse me? I will have you know that my mother bought these for me!”  
She yawned, and folded her arms. “Wow. so your mother is still paying for your things?”  
He fumed. “At least I ca-”  
“Hey, remember when I asked for your opinion?”  
He looked confused. “No, but-”  
“Good,”she wiped her brow. “Because I don’t remember either.”  
She looked behind him. Chat was only a few feet away. Midevialator started to turn around to see what she was looking at, but ladybug yelped.  
“Wait!”  
He turned back around, clearly annoyed and angry. “What do you want.”  
She thought for a moment, then proceed. “Where is Hawkmoth?”  
“Pfft, like I would tell you.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Your about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.”  
“Oh ya? Well you're-you're-” he stuttered.  
“I’m what now? You know, everyone’s entitled to act stupid once in awhile, but you really abuse the privilege.”  
“Shut up!”  
“You have your entire life to be a jerk. Why not take today off?  
“I said shut up!”  
“I don’t think I will.”  
“That’s it! Your gonna wish you were never born!” he took a step forward.  
“Hey, do you have perfect vision with those glasses.” Ladybug said.  
He stopped. “Ya, duh!”  
“Well how come you didn’t see it coming?”  
He gave her a confused look. “See what.”  
“That.” she said, pointing behind him.  
“What the-” he turned around, and Chat snatched his glasses.  
“Hey!” Midevialator yelled.  
Chat leapt over to Ladybug. “Nice smack talk. I didn’t know you could do that.”  
She brushed her shoulders. “I only bring out the big guns when someone deserves it.” she walked up to him, and ripped away his whiteboard.  
“GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!” he screamed.  
Chat grimaced. “Dang, he sounds like a toddler.”  
Ladybug walked up to him, and snatched his glasses. Their clothes went back to normal, she de-evilized the akuma. Since she didn’t have a lucky charm, and there was no damage done, Ladybug and Chat Noir started to walk away. Ladybug took one last glance at the ex akuma, only to be blinded by a bright purple light outlined in black bubbles.  
“Milady, are yo-” Chat stopped as he too was blinded by the purple light.  
A voice boomed in their minds, making them grab their heads and fall onto their knees. “Ladybug and Chat Noir. My minions so far have failed me, but do not rejoice. For this is only the beginning. In your near future, there will be grief and pain like you’ve never experienced before. It will be more than you can ever imagine. Turn over your miraculous now, and I will spare you.”  
Ladybug groaned out in pain, but mustered a few words. “We...will never...let Paris...fall...into your grasp…”  
She screamed as the pain intensified. It felt like someone put her brain in a blender.  
The voice growled. “So be it.”  
The purple light intensified, then disappeared.  
Chat rose to his knees, taking shaky breathes. His head hurt like crazy, as if someone had put a taser through it. His pain might have been terrible, but it couldn’t have been any worse than Ladybugs pain. She had done the taking, so her words cost her dearly. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and extended his hand out to Ladybug, who was shaking on the ground in the fetal position.  
“Come on, milady. Let’s get you home.” he said softly.  
She looked at his hand uneasily, and took it. She rose to her feet, but all of the color drained from her face immediately. “Chat…” Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she slumped backwards into Chat’s chest.  
“Ladybug!” he cried.


	6. Powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> when Hawkmoth made Marinette pass out, he also did something to her powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry, I didn't feel like waiting a long time to write a long chapter, plus i was bored today and wanted to post something and do something with my life(lol), so here you go!

“Can you fix her?” Chat Noir asked.  
As soon as Ladybug had passed out, he had taken her straight to Master Fu. Now, he knew that just because she passed out doesn’t mean she is in any danger, but Hawkmoth had just spoken to them, causing them pain like nothing they had ever felt before. Not only did he give them pain, she felt the worst of it, making her pass out. That’s why he was scared. He didn’t know if Hawkmoth had done anything else to her.  
Master Fu examined her, feeling her temperature, checking her skin tone, and checking her pulse. He stood up, and walked over to a cabinet. “I have never seen anything like this. Perhaps it is a hidden power of Hawkmoth’s. For whatever reason, he has never shown this power before. This could have something to do with energy.” he started rummaging through some herbs. “My understanding is that he only used this power now for a greater cause. I think it must use a lot of energy, otherwise he would use it more often.” he pulled out rosemary, lavender flowers, and bay laurel. He put them in a mortar filled with a little bit of water, and handed it to chat with a pestle. “Mash these together quickly. We don’t know if her injuries could be fatal yet, so we can’t spare any time.”  
He did as he was told as he watched Master Fu bring a pot of water to boil. He threw in some onions, horseradish root, Mexican mint, saffron, barberry, and a bunch of other herbs Chat couldn’t name. He started stirring the mixture, occasionally adding extra ingredients.  
“Chat, you can stop mixing now.” Master Fu said. “I want you to go into my cabinet and go get the herb that looks like mint leaves but slightly bigger. Its dried up and i want you to add 5 of those leaves to your herbs.”  
Chat walked to the cabinet, and found the leaves. “Holy Basil!”  
Master Fu spun around. “What? What is it?”  
Chat grinned and held up the jar. “Holy basil. That’s what the label says.”  
Master Fu chuckled and continued stirring.  
Chat pulled out five of the leaves, and crumbled them into dust before pouring them into the mortar. He mixed them together, and it made a doughy type substance. “Uh Master? It turned into dough.”  
“That’s good.” he breathed. “Put the dough on the counter, and divide it into 5 sections. Then roll each section into a ball.”  
Once chat was done, Master Fu added them to the pot. He poured some of it into a bowl, and brought it over to where Ladybug was lying down. He whispered something into her ear, and her transformation dropped. Tikki floated out of her earrings, and laid down next to her.  
She grimaced. “Ugh...so much...pain.” she said, breathing heavily between words.  
Chat Let go of his transformation, and Plagg flew straight over to Tikki, helping her stand. “It’ll be ok Tikki, you’ll be fine. Marinette is resting, let’s get you fixed up.”  
The kwami’s flew over to the music box, and got some of the ‘soup’.  
Master Fu opened up Marinette’s mouth just a crack, and brought the bowl to her lips, slowly trickling the soup into her mouth. The color started returning to her face, and her mouth opened a little bit more on its own, thirstily drinking the soup. When the bowl was empty, Adrien kneeled down next to her head, stroking her hair out of her face, holding her hand. She squeezed his hand, and shuddered. Her breath got rapid, and her pulse quickened.  
Adrien started to panic. “Master fu, what’s happening?”  
He quickly grabbed a damp washcloth, and used it to rub the back of her neck.  
Her body started twitching uncontrollably, as if it had a mind of its own. Her face scrunched up in a worried look, and tears started streaking down her face. Beads of sweat started forming on her brow, and she started gasping for breath.  
Adrien rubbed her shoulders, tears forming in his eyes. “Marinette, you gotta wake up. Mari...Marinette...please wake up.”  
Then, she went still. The tears in Adrien's eyes flowed freely, and his eyes widened in surprise. His hand flew to her neck, feeling for a pulse, but he felt nothing. He checked her chest, then her wrist, but still nothing. He put his ear over her mouth. Nothing.  
His hands started shaking. ‘No, no, no. this is not happening! T-this is n-not happening!’ he thought.  
All of a sudden, Marinette’s eyes shot wide open. Bright purple light consumed every inch of them, filling the room in blinding light. She started floating, until she was two feet off the ground. She spread out her arms, and a dark butterfly of energy appeared behind her. Wind blew in her face, making her clothes ripple. Her hair undid itself, letting it fly freely. She opened her mouth in a silent scream, light pouring out of that, too. The energy snaked its way in front of her,creeping into her mouth. Adrien stared in horror as tears continued to stream down her face. as soon as the last of the butterfly seeped into her, she crossed her arms across her chest, her hands balled into fists, and slowly sank to the ground, her mouth closed, as well as her eyes. she opened them again, the light receding from them.  
“W-what happened?” she asked, shakily sitting up.  
Adrien started full on crying, and embraced her. “Oh thank goodness you're ok! Don’t ever do that ever again.”  
Marinette just sat there in surprise before finally returning the embrace. “I-i don't understand. What h-happened?”  
“You passed out after Hawkmoth talked to you,” Master Fu said. “You started going into convulsions, shaking fits, and your heart even stopped beating. Your eyes opened and purple light shined out of them. You floated off the ground and absorbed energy that appears behind you. Then you woke up.”  
Her mouth gaped open. “What, what will happen to me?”  
Fu breathed out. “For now, you need to avoid any bright lights, and any physical activities. I don’t want to risk anything, so i’ll write you a doctors note.” He wrote something down on a pad of paper and handed it to her. Then he look Adrien in the eyes. “You are not to tell anyone what happened today. If someone questions anything, make something up. And most importantly,” he pointed to Marinette. “Keep her out of harm's way. If patrols are necessary, get out of the area as quickly as possible. We don't need the same thing happening to you that happened to her, and i don’t know if she can take it a second time. Ok?”  
Adrien nodded, and then transformed. “I’ll make sure she is ok.”


	7. The Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is wrong with Marinette, but before further investigation can happen, it's go time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh! i had so much fun writing this chapter because i sat back and thought
> 
> Me: man i really need to make this interesting, but how? i have no ideas?  
> Brain: how about a plot twist that no one will see coming?  
> Me: (snaps fingers) Brilliant! thanks Brain!  
> Brain: your welcome bro
> 
> so please enjoy!

Before Marinette and Chat Noir left, Master Fu handed them the Fox Miraculous, the Turtle Miraculous, and the Bee Miraculous. Chat wrapped Marinette’s arms around his neck and ran back to the bakery. By the time he was in her room, Marinette was sound asleep. He layed her down and tucked her in, laying next to her for a few minutes, stroking her hair, and making sure she wasn’t cold. He didn’t want to be far in case anything else happened, so he laid his pillow and blanket down next to Marinette’s bed, and fell asleep. Well, at least he tried to. He was asleep for about thirty minutes, when he was awoken by crying. He sat next to Marinette, and brushed the bangs out of her face. Her face was soaked with tears.  
He gently wiped them off of her face. “Princess, wake up. Your just dreaming.”  
To his surprise, she responded, still fully asleep. “But...but it’s not just a dream. People, people are in danger. You are in danger. I...I am in danger. I-” she gasped, and shuddered.  
“What, what is it Princess?” Chat asked, worry hitched in his voice.  
“Hawkmoth...he’s here.”  
“What do you mean he’s here?”  
“He’s...he’s…”her eyes flew open, the same purple hew filling the room like earlier. Her mouth was wide open in a silent scream as tears streamed down her face.  
Chat gasped. “Marinette...Mari! You need to wake up! Mari!” he shook her shoulder. Big mistake. The moment he touched her shoulder, Marinette seized his arm with alarming speed, unwilling. Chat moaned, and his pupils filled his eyes the size of quarters. He saw Paris in ruins, citizens lying on the ground, fires raging everywhere, and Hawkmoth, he was standing in the midst of it all. Ladybug was standing right next to him, but her outfit was altered. It was purple and grey, like Hawkmoth’s, but it had the same patterns. He saw himself lying on the ground in front of them. He was grasping his side, blood soaking through his suit. Hawkmoth pointed to him, and Ladybug ripped his ring off, revealing his identity. Hawkmoth then took her earrings, and she fell to the ground. She sat up, looking around at the confusion and chaos. It looked as if she didn’t know that she had caused all of this.   
Then a deep voice boomed in his mind. “PURIFY THE LIGHT. 7 DAYS. NOT MUCH TIME. QUICKLY.”  
Chat thought, ‘What the heck, this obviously isn’t real. There’s no way the bad guy will win.  
The voice spoke to him again, only louder. “ HA! YOU WISH THIS WAS FAKE. THIS IS A VISION. I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME BEFORE I'M FIGURED OUT. HURRY-” his voice started cracking as if he had bad cell reception. “BEFORE...LATE...CRAP-”  
Chat eyes cleared, and Marinette let go of his hand, the light fading from her eyes too.  
He shuddered, and stared in disbelief, before laying back down and going to sleep  
. . .

When Adrien woke up, he got ready for school. He found a tee shirt and some jeans to wear, then picked out Marinette’s outfit, having not woken up yet. He walked up the stairs, and lightly shook Marinette’s shoulder.  
“Mari, it’s time to get ready for school.”  
She groaned, and sat up, rubbing her eyes.  
Adrien gasped, and rubbed his eyes in disbelief, his mouth open wide.  
“What? What is it?” Marinette asked.  
On the side of Marinette’s head, a streak of her dark blue hair had turned dark purple.  
“So it wasn’t a dream.” He murmured to himself.  
“What wasn’t a dream?”  
“Nothing. It’s nothing. We can deal with it after school. But right now, you need to get dressed.”  
Once she was dressed, Adrien suggested that she curled her hair. She gave him a confused look, but did as he said. What she didn’t know was that her hair style was covering up the streak of purple. They made egg ham and cheese croissants breakfast sandwiches with strawberry banana smoothies and walked to school. Waiting at the front doors was Nino and Alya, waving when the saw them.   
“You go ahead, I need to talk to Alya about...something.”  
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Adrien, what are you keeping from em?”  
He felt his face beat up, and quickly replied. “N-nothing. It’s nothing. Just, I’ll be with you in a few.”  
He kissed her on the cheek and smiled.  
She walked off, muttering to herself. “That’s a lot of nothings and it isn’t even 9 am.”  
He walked to Nino and Alya and greeted them with a smile. “Hey guys, what’s up?”  
He smiled, watching Marinette out of the corner of his eye.   
When she was inside the building he stopped smiling, his voice barely above a whisper. “Something’s wrong with Marinette. She knows hardly anything, but what i’m about to mention you can’t talk to her about.”  
Nino put an arm around Alya. “What happened.”  
Adrien looked around nervously, then continued. “After we had defeated the Medievalator, Hawkmoth spoke through the victim. He poured pain and rage on me and Marinette, but she got the worst of it. Eventually she passed out. I took her to Master Fu, the miraculous keeper, and she floated off the ground, light pouring out from her eyes. She has no memory of that happening.”  
Alya placed a hand over her mouth. “That’s terrible! Is she ok?”  
Adrien shook his head. “It gets worse. Last night, i woke up in the middle of the night to her crying. She opened her eyes, still asleep, and the same purple light shining from her. She grabbed my arm, and I saw a vision of chaos, fires, and total destruction. Hawkmoth and Ladybug were standing in the middle of it. She took my miraculous, and Hawkmoth took hers. She fell to the ground, and she looked as if she had no idea what was going on. It was as if Hawkmoth was controlling her. Then a voice spoke to me saying that i had to purify the light in 7 days. I don’t know what will happen if I don’t, but I don’t want to find out.” he took out the miraculous, and placed it in the couples hands. “If anything goes wrong, you’ll be the first people I contact. These are for emergencies only. You are not to use them until i say so. Can i trust you?”   
They pocketed the jewels, and nodded.  
Adrien let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “Good. now, lets go to class. Around Marinette, act like I was just talking to you about…” he thought for a minute. What was a good excuse?  
“Uhhh...the exams! Yes, the, uh, third wheel exams.” Alya said.  
Adrien shook his head. “Like she’s going to believe that. Oh well. It’ll have to do. I’ll meet you guys in class. I have to go talk to Chloe”  
Nino groaned. “Dude. tell me your not asking her for help.”  
He shrugged. “The more the better. She’s not on the top of my list, but we can’t keep on giving more people a miraculous. Besides, you guys have the gist of it, if I were to give one to a new person, there’s no telling if they will use it without my permission or not. Chloe will have to due.”  
Nino patted him on the shoulder. “Good luck.”  
Alya grabbed his hand. “And take care of Marinette for me. Being Ladybug is risky enough.”  
Adrien nodded, and walked into the building. The buzz from everyone finding out about their identities had died down, but he would get the occasional glance and finger point from classmates. People who he didn’t even know all of a sudden wanted to be his friend. Being a model he was used to it, but this was different. Everybody wanted to be friends with the super hero, everybody wants to be partners with the super hero. Some people would randomly take pictures of him just to get more followers on Instagram or snap chat. For that reason and others, he would always sit with and be partners with Marinette. He took a deep breath, put on a smile, and opened the door to history. Mr. Moreau hadn’t arrived yet, so everybody was talking among themselves.  
He sat down next to Marinette and kissed her on the cheek. “Sorry I made you wait.”  
She kissed him back. “It’s ok. I feel sorry for you. You missed the chance of a lifetime.”  
He lifted an eyebrow. “What kind of chance?”  
She laughed. “Remember the time Kim pulled out the chair from under Alex? Well Alex decided to get him back.”  
Adrien examined them as Kim yelled at Alex, who had a smug look on her face.  
“What did she do?”  
“She duck taped an air horn to the bottom of Kim’s chair, poured shaving cream on his desk, and held a frying pan over his head. So when Kim sat down, the air horn went off, making Kim jump into the frying pan, and then he fell face forward onto the shaving cream.”  
Adrien burst out in laughter, making Kim turn towards him.  
“What are you laughing at Agreste?” Kim asked, staring daggers at him.  
Adrien gawked at him. “You just got pranked by someone half your size, a pretty good prank if I do say so myself, and your not laughing. I mean, ya, I wouldn’t be very happy, but by know I would be laughing.”  
Kim wiped shaving cream off his face. “Like you’ve ever been in a situation like mine.”  
Adrien almost died. “Do you know how many times Ladybug has thrown me from a distance into a beam of the Eiffel tower? Most of the time she catches me by surprise.”  
Everyone turned towards Marinette, who burst out laughing. “Remember...remember the time when you were drinking hot chocolate, and you spilled it on yourself after I scared you, then I threw you towards the lake?”  
Adrien chuckled. “Ya, that was pretty funny.”  
Right then, Mr. Moreau walked in. “What’s going on? Kim, go to the restroom and clean than ridiculous stuff off your face. And Alex, what did we say about pranks? Please clean up the mess.”  
They did as they were told, and everyone else sat down. The teacher went into the closet just as Chloe walked in. Adrien quickly stood up, and stopped her at the door.  
“What the heck! Out of my way!” Chloe complained.  
Adrien pulled a box out of his bag, and in a low voice, he said, “this is the miraculous of the bee. I am giving it to you for emergencies only. You are only to use it when I tell you to, and you are to give it back when I ask you to. Paris depends on it. Do you understand?”  
She gulped, and nodded. “Ya. Ok, ya.”  
“Good. now act like I just said something stupid and roll your eyes.”  
She rolled her eyes, and sat down next to Sabrina. Adrien went back to his seat, and brought out his tablet.  
Mr Moreau started writing on the board. “Ok class, today we are going to be studying the art of sneak attacks.”  
Everybody groaned.  
“Alright alright.” said Mr. Moreau. “I know that you studied this last year, but this year is going to be different. Everybody get out your tablets, were going to start by taking some notes.”  
He started writing several things on the chalkboard, not really looking back at the class and just talking. While Adrien was taking notes on his tablet, he got a text message.  
What were you talking to Chloe about? It was from Marinette  
He looked around him, then responded. Not much, just asked her if she could text me if she saw an akuma, since most of them were started by her.  
She gave him a quizzical look. Then what was that box that you handed Chloe, which suspiciously looked like a miraculous box?  
Adrien whimpered. It was a birthday present  
Marinette sighed, but continued typing. You know, you’re a terrible liar Agreste  
Adrien’s face felt hot. I'm sorry. I’m worried about you. I gave Alya, Nino, and Chloe a miraculous. They’re not supposed to use it until I tell them to, and they have to give it back when I say  
Marinette squeezed his hand and whispered in his ear. “Its ok. You have nothing to worry about. Besides, Master Fu said I was ok. And nothing has happened since yesterday.”  
Adrien squeezed back, then looked back up at the board. He blushed realizing that Mr. Moreau was looking directly at them, but he said nothing and continued on with his lesson.  
After class, they went to science, and nearly blew the whole classroom up with foam. Then they went to English and took a nap as the teacher sat back in his wheelie chair and talked with his eyes closed, not opening them even for a second. By the time class was over, they had finished all of their school work, so they walked straight home and sat on the couch to watch a movie.  
“Let’s watch a scary movie.” Adrien told her.  
Her eyes widened. “NO! NOT A SCARY MOVIE!” she whimpered. “I hate scary movies!”  
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’ll be fine. Which one should we watch?” he held up an assortment of movies. “There’s ‘Get Out’, or ‘The Nun’, or ‘The Cabin In The Woods’, or-OOOOOO! Let’s watch ‘The Ring’!”  
Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Oh. that doesn't sound so bad. Ok, we can watch it”  
Adrien snickered, but said nothing.  
They curled up onto the couch, snuggling into a blanket, Adrien’s arm over Marinette.  
Katie: I hate television. Gives me headaches.You know, I heard there's so many magnetic waves traveling through the air because of TV and telephones, that we're Iosing, Iike ten times as many brain ceIIs as we're supposed to. Like, aII the moIecuIes in our heads are aII unstable. AII the companies know about it but they're not doing anything about it. It's, Iike, a big conspiracy.  
“This isn’t even that scary!” Marinette said proudly, adjusting her head on Adrien’s chest.  
He chuckled. “That’s because we haven’t gotten to the good part.”  
Becca: You can pick something. I don't care. Say heIIo to Iuscious, fuII bod...  
Katie:You have any idea how many eIectro-rays are traveling through our head every second?   
Becca: I got a better one. Have you heard about this videotape that kiIIs you when you watch it?   
Katie:What kind of tape?   
Becca: A tape, a regular tape. People rent it, I don't know. You start to play it and it's, Iike, somebody's nightmare. Then suddenly, this woman comes on smiling at you, right? Seeing you through the screen…and as soon as it's over… your phone rings. Someone knows you've watched it and what they say is…''You wiII die in seven days'' and exactIy seven days Iater…  
Katie: Who toId you that?   
Becca: Somebody from Revere. I don't…   
Katie: Who toId you?   
Becca: What's your problem?   
Katie: I've watched it.   
Becca: It's a story, Katie.   
Katie: No, me and Josh, we saw it Iast weekend.   
Becca: I thought you were with your parents.   
Katie: I wanted to teII you.   
Becca: You were with Josh aII weekend?   
Katie: Some of his friends got this-this pIace up in the mountains. They were trying to record a footbaII game. I guess the reception was so bad…   
Becca: What are you taIking about?   
Katie: Listen to me! When we played the tape, the game wasn't there. It was…   
Becca: What? Wh-What was it?   
Katie: It was something else. We thought it was some kind of sick joke… and then the phone rang. It was a week ago… one week ago tonight.   
Becca: You're just trying to scare me.  
Katie: ( gagging )  
Becca: Oh, my God, Katie! Are you okay? Katie... oh, my...  
Katie:( snickering )  
Becca: You freak!   
Katie: ( laughing ) You totaIIy feII for it!   
Becca: No. So... did you guys, you know, do anything?   
Katie: Like what?   
Becca: Oh, my God, you totaIIy did!   
Katie: You [idiot!]   
Becca: TeII me now!   
(phone ringing)  
Katie: There reaIIy is a tape. ( ringing continuing ) ( ringing continuing ) ( sighs )   
Becca: This is so Iame.   
Katie: Wait, don't!   
Becca: Embrey residence.   
(pants nervously)  
(hands phone to Katie)  
Katie: HeIIo? Hi, Mom.  
The couple continued watching, Marinette freaking out when scary music played, and Adrien chuckling every time she flinched.  
“I-i-i c-can do t-t-this.” Marinette whispered to herself. “It’s j-just a m-m-movie.”  
(Rachel put the tape in the VCR player)  
(the tape plays)  
(static as the screen goes black)  
(it’s dark outside)  
(she’s in the woods in a cabin alone)  
(silence)  
“Oh no. Oh no. Oh NO! Rachel run! Destroy the tape! Quick!” Marinette screamed.  
Adrien shuddered. “Heh, she’ll be fine. It’s just a m-”  
(Rachel sees her blurry reflexion in the black screen)  
(she sees a white receding picture behind her)  
(she spins around, but no one is there)  
(she lays back and shuts her eyes)  
(the phone rings)  
Adrien wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh.”  
Soon enough both teens huddled together, holding onto each other for dear life, both screaming at Rachel to not answer the phone.  
(Rachel answers the phone)  
(a raspy voice answers and says)  
Sevvveeeenn dayyyyzzz…  
“NO! NO! I CAN’T DO THIS! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!” Marinette wailed.  
Adrien held onto her for dear life. “It’s ok. W-we c-can d-do t-t-this.”  
All of a sudden the phone rang. Marinette and Adrien slowly turned their heads towards the sound, watching the home phone. It continued to ring. finally , it stopped.  
“Maybe it was nothing.” Adrien replied shakily.  
But the phone rang again.   
Marinette stood up, and grabbed the popcorn bowl. “EVIL SPIRITS BE GONE!” and with that, she threw the bowl of popcorn and the phone, unplugging it from the wall. She took a shaky breath and sat down. Adrien stared at her in disbelief. He prayed that the neighbors wouldn’t knock on their door. They were about to start the movie when Adrien’s phone rang.  
Her eyes widened as she stared fearfully at his mobile device. “No. no…”  
“It’s ok, i’ll get it.” Adrien shakily grabbed the phone. With shaky fingers he finally answered the phone. “H-hello?”  
“Yo Adrien, whats up?” it was Nino  
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Hey Nino. what’s going on?”  
“Dude you sound like you’ve seen a ghost. You ok?”  
He laughed. “Ya. were just watching the ring. Big mistake.”  
“Ooooo. Harsh bro.”  
“Ya. anyways, what were you calling me about?”  
“Ya, so, there’s this really big looking thing walking around under the Eiffel Tower, and it has a bunch of smaller little guys walking in the streets. It looks like akuma's. I think they’re waiting for you guys.”  
Adrien gasped, earning a concerned look from Marinette. “How many do you count?”  
There was a pause, then he spoke again. “There’s about 20 of ‘em, not counting the other ones wandering the rest of Paris. I’d estimate about 50 count.”  
Adrien groaned. “Ok, call Alya and Chloe. Then them to suit up.”  
“Ok, see you then dude.”  
“Bye”  
Adrien hung up, and looked at Marinette.  
“What, what is it?” she asked.  
He stood up and offered her his hand. “It’s go time.”


	8. The Mole

Chat Noir and Ladybug met the rest of the gang at the top of the Arc de Triomphe. They were using their miraculous items to get a closer look at the akuma's.  
Ladybug and Chat Noir landed behind them.  
Rena Rouge jumped, and when she realized it was just them, breathed out. “Thank goodness it’s just you two.” She hugged Ladybug, then Chat Noir. “Every place we tried to hide, the akuma’s attacked us. This is the only place they seem to stay away from.”  
Carapace and Queen Bee turned around as well, their faces grim.  
“Wassup A-I mean Chat Noir.” Carapace corrected himself.  
Chat chuckled, and man hugged Carapace. “I get why you mix us up,” then he started flexing his muscles. “We are pretty similar.” he winked at Ladybug.  
She rolled her eyes, and swatted away his hand when he tried to grab hers. “After that horrible joke, you don’t get to hold my hand.” she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.  
Chat trembled his bottom lip. “Awwwwww! You can’t be serious! I’ll die without your affection!” he made a big scene and fell over, as if he was heart broken.  
Ladybug peaked, to see what storm he was cooking up, but he wasn’t done yet.  
Queen Bee snickered. “Marinette is going after Adrien at school, but Chat Noir is going after Ladybug on patrol. This is hilarious!”  
Rena Rouge chuckled, trying to hide it, but that only encouraged Chat to continue on. He started sniffing, trembling uncontrollably. Ladybug rolled her eyes, and looked into his. He looked into hers, and gave her kitten eyes, begging for mercy.  
She wagged a finger at him. “Oh no. I thought I told you no kitten eyes, silly Chaton.”  
He got on his knees and put his hands together in prayer, giving her everything he had. Finally she gave in, and pulled him up. “On of these times your going to get more than you bargained for.”  
Carapace clasped his hands over his mouth. “Ooooooooooooo!”  
Chat Noir looked over at him. “Oh shut up carapace, you’ve been burned more times than I have by your girlfriend. Besides, we haven’t even started fighting yet.”  
Rena put her hands up. “Boys, boys. We can talk later, right now we need to come up with a plan.”  
They all crouched down, observing the akuma's. After 10 minutes, they still hadn't done anything. They didn’t destroy, they didn’t disturb, they only wandered around aimlessly.  
“What are they up to?” Ladybug wondered.  
“Seems like nothing to me.” Chat Noir said.  
“Let’s get a closer look.” Rena Rouge whispered.  
“Wait! No it may not be-” Ladybug started, but Rena was already running towards the danger.  
Queen Bee rolled her eyes. “Always defying the rest.”  
Ladybug shook her head. “Come on. We better follow her.”  
They ran across the rooftops, careful to stay out of the akuma's line of vision. It was weird seeing multiple akuma's at once. There were so many, some of them she had forgotten about. She wondered why Alya, Nino, and Chloe hadn’t been akumatized. Maybe it was because they had a miraculous.  
Rena stopped at the Mayor's house, looking at the Eiffel tower. Her eyes were wide in surprise. They all crouched down next to her, staring at what she was looking at.  
“What is it Rena?” Ladybug asked.  
Chat Noir gasped, then pointed. There was a small figure, but it was easy to guess who it was. Hawkmoth.  
“It’s Hawkmoth. In the flesh!” Queen Bee exclaimed.  
Chat looked down. “Yeah, my father.”  
Queen Bee gasped. “You mean...your father is...how come you…”  
“Yeah, it’s my father. I-” he looked at Ladybug. “we figured that out when my bodyguard attacked Marinette. I’ve been staying at Marinette’s ever since our identities were discovered because my father wanted me to stop this nonsense”  
“I wonder why he’s out…” Ladybug said. She opened up her yo yo and got a closer look at him. What was more disturbing than him being out in the open was that he was looking directly at them. At her. He smiled at her, his eyes glistening. She gasped.  
Chat put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, LB. you ok?”  
She put a hand to her forehead. Her stomach churned, sweat rolled down her scalp, her breathing got rapid. “I…” she took a ragged breath. “I don’t feel so good.” She fell backwards, her eyes slowly closing.  
“Whoa!” Chat caught her before she could fall  
“Ladybug are you ok?” Rena Rouge  
They all kneeled down next to her, checking her temperature, her pulse, and her breathing.  
“Ladybug are you alright?” Chat asked, his voice hitched with worry.  
Tears started rolling down her face as she clutched her head. “It hurts. It hurts so bad!”  
“What hurts?” Carapace asked.  
“Him. He’s...he’s hurting me!” she doubled over and heaved, the sick sound of her puke echoing across the walls of the surrounding buildings. She rolled onto her back, her face turning green. She started coughing uncontrollably, blood squirting out of her mouth with every cough.  
“Stay with me Ladybug. Your going to get through this.” Chat said.  
Queen Bee and Rena Rouge had tears streaming down their faces, Carapace comforting them.  
“I…” her breathing became rapid, slow. “I…”  
“Shh. Don’t speak. Save your energy.” Chat whispered.  
“I...I...I love you.” she spoke  
Chat started crying. “I love you too.”  
She inhaled sharply, then went slack.  
Chat Noir screamed. “No!”  
He sat there, rocking her back and forth, refusing to let go for what seemed like hours, but then she gasped.  
Everyone looked at her.  
“Ladybug?” asked Chat Noir  
She opened her eyes, and they shot out streams of purple.  
Chat grabbed his head. It felt as if someone were forcing something into his brain. The heard a voice.  
OK, SO, I THOUGHT YOU HAD 7 DAYS TO HELP HER, BUT I WAS WRONG. YOU HAVE TODAY, OR PARIS DIES.  
It’s that voice again. Chat thought. The one who warned me to purify the light.  
YOUR DARN RIGHT IT’S ME! NOW, SINCE YOU DIDN’T STOP HAWKMOTH’S CONNECTION, YOU HAVE TO STOP HER NOW...UNDER HAWKMOTH’S CONTROL.  
What do you mean ‘connection’, he thought. And she’s not under Hawkmoth’s control.  
DO YOU REMEMBER MIDEVIALATOR? WHENEVER YOU ENCOUNTERED HAWKMOTH?  
Ya?  
REMEMBER HOW SHE FELT MORE PAIN THAN YOU, AND TWO MORE TIMES THAT SAME DAY SHE FLOATED AND FLIPPIN PURPLE RAYS OF LIGHT JUST STARTED COMING OUT OF HER, YOU REMEMBER THAT?  
...ya  
The voice took a deep breath. WELL, SINCE SHE HAD MORE PAIN, THAT MEANS HAWKMOTH CHOSE HER TO BE THE MIRACULOUS MINION, BECAUSE SHE’S THE STRONGER ONE!  
Hey! Chat thought. ...actually, that’s true. Ok, so how do I fix her?  
WELL, I HAVEN’T THOUGHT OF IT YET.  
There was a long pause.  
You mean you warned me to fix her, but you don’t even know how?  
WELL I MEAN IT’S KINDA HARD TO WHEN I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE WILL ACT.  
What does that have to do with anything!  
“Um, dude? You ok, or are you going to keep staring into her eyes.” Carapace said  
“Nino not now! I am having a very intense conversation with a voice in my head!” Chat yelled.  
Carapace’s eyes widened, and then he backed away.  
Alright Adrien focus focus focus.  
The voice yawned. I'M STILL HERE. WHAT WERE WE TALKING ABOUT?  
We were talking about-  
OH! I REMEMBER! YES, WHEN SHE’S UNDER THE INFLUENCE-  
What! She doesn't drink! She’s 17!  
NO NO NO! UNDER HAWKMOTH’S INFLUENCE! WHEN SHE IS, SHE WILL ACT DIFFERENTLY. IF SHE’S ACTING STRONG, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HER WEAK. IF SHE’S ACTING BRAVE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HER SCARED. IF SHE HATES YOU, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HER LOVE YOU.  
Well, what if she’s acting like all 3?  
There was a pause, then a deep sigh. WELL, THEN YOU'RE SCREWED.  
Oh come one you have to give me more info than that!  
Silence  
Hello? You there?  
More silence  
“Dang It!” he whispered.  
Ladybug’s eyes slowly started to close, stopping the light from flowing.  
“Ladybug, Can you hear me?”  
About five seconds later, her suit started to change. The little hexagons on her outfit started flipping over, revealing a new gray outfit with purple spots. Her skin color got the tiniest hint of gray, and her lips slowly changed gray like a tidal wave of food coloring.  
Chat Noir backed away, looking at her in fear. “Milady?”  
Her eyes snapped open, but instead of seeing her beautiful blue bell eyes, the color was replaced with the darkest shade of black, making her pupils look huge. She rolled onto her neck, then used her hands to kick back up onto her feet. She ran at Rena Rouge, swiping her leg under her feet, making the fox hit the ground with a loud THUMP. She attacked Carapace, punching at his face with alarming speed, Carapace barely blocking the hits.  
Queen Bee joined the fight, sneaking up behind her and grabbing her wrists. Ladybug struggled, shaking uncontrollably.  
“Ladybug, what has gotten into you?” Queen Bee asked.  
She continued to struggle, trying to get free from her grasp. When she finally stopped, Queen Bee loosened her grip. Big mistake. Ladybug grabbed her wrist from behind and judo flipped her onto the ground, a sickening CRACK following the down fall. Queen Bee groaned, while Carapace checked on her, Ladybug turned her attention to Chat Noir.  
He put up his hands in a peace offering. “Ladybug, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you. Were all friends here. Now just sit down, and we’ll fix-”  
She ran at him, and while she grabbed his arm, she spun him around and around and around again, until finally she let go, sending him hurtling straight into a wall.  
He collided, crushing the bricks under him while making a dent in the building. “Ouch.” he fell, hitting the ground. He panted, then raised himself onto his elbow, just enough room to see the others. Everyone was hurt. They were in no fighting condition. And Ladybug, she was hopping along the buildings, going straight towards Hawkmoth.  
“N..no.” he groaned.  
She stood by Hawkmoth’s side, looking among the Akuma’s. When she met his eye, she pointed at him, then sliced her finger across her throat.  
Hawkmoth raised his hands in the air. “Everyone give it up for our newest member of our team! Damsel Misfortune!”  
Chat Noir stood up, and started limping forward. With a loud and clear voice, he yelled, “just because you have our Partner, our Friend, doesn’t mean we have a reason to give up hope. We will never surrender! I would rather die than giving you my Miraculous!”  
Hawkmoth turned towards him. “Ah, but my son, you have already lost, I have Ladybug, and you clearly can’t do anything right without her help. Admit it. Your worthless. You would do anything to save her, so lets say that she were to…” his face grew in a sly grin. “Oh, I don’t know, get hurt.”  
He took the top off of his staff, revealing a knife, and swiped it across Damsel Misfortune’s face. She made no reaction. She just stood there, blood streaming down her cheek.  
“Do you like that, Adrien?” Hawkmoth asked. “How about we inflict more pain, shall we? After all, she has to pay for all the pain you both have inflicted on me!”  
He sliced her leg open, a deep wound, and sliced at her hands. She was bleeding all over, seriously injured, but she did nothing. It was as if she was thinking, ‘huh, this is a nice view. Oh, hi Hawkmoth! You cut open my cheek? Oh, that's nice! Oh, you nearly sliced of my leg? Oh, that’s ok, I didn’t need that one any way!’  
He lifted the knife again, ready to strike, but Queen Bee screamed. “HAWKMOTH! STOP THIS RIDICULOUS NONSENSE!”  
He lowered the knife, and stared at her. “And why should I, Miss Bourgeois? After all, you’ve helped me out the most?”  
She paused, saying nothing. She didn’t know what to say. With much effort, Rena Rouge rose, walking next to Chloe. “You should stop because you should be doing nothing but running. You know why?”  
Carapace stepped up next to them. “Because we’re going to save Ladybug, and kick your butt!”  
Hawkmoth growled. “So be it. Minions! Attack!”  
The akuma’s surged forward. Damsel Misfortune threw her ring, but Hawkmoth held up a fist. “Not yet. I need you here.”  
As the akuma’s advanced, the hero's got ready.  
“Wait!” Chat Noir called.  
The team looked at him in confusion.  
“You guys, come on! I have an idea!” he said, beckoning them forward.  
They looked at each other in confusion, but just shrugged their shoulders. They jumped down and ran alongside him.  
Hawkmoth erupted in a fit of laughter. “Where are you going? The fight hasn’t even started!”  
They continued to run, far away from Hawkmoth’s army.  
Queen Bee saddled up next to Chat Noir. “Ya, where are we going? We should be fighting. And also what happened to Ladybug?”  
Chat extended his pole, knocking the Sandboy out of the sky. “This voice popped in my head. Apparently when we defeated Midevialator, Hawkmoth put something inside of her, letting him control her when he wanted to. That’s why her costume changed. As for where we’re going, we’re going to see a friend of mine.”  
“Well before we go, can’t we help Ladybug?” asked Rena Rouge.  
Chat shook his head. “No, if we get too close, Hawkmoth will akumatize us. I don’t know how he’s akumatized so many people at once, but my friend will know how.”

. . .

“Hmmm...this is not good.”  
Chat Noir had taken the others to Master Fu,and immediately after explained to him what was happening.  
“Do you know what happened?” Carapace asked.  
Fu walked over to his desk, and pulled out a tablet. “The only thing i can think of is that he figured out how to increase his powers.”  
“Well, can you increase our powers?” Queen Bee asked.  
“I can increase your strength, but I cannot increase your power. To do that is a big risk. To increase one's ability to use their powers more than once a transformation, would mean the loss of something in the future.”  
“Does Hawkmoth know this?” Chat asked.  
Master Fu started taking out ingredients, adding them to a boiling pot of water. “If he knows this, then he obviously doesn’t care. The likeness of him knowing this information is very slim, because only miraculous protectors were told this information.”  
As he worked, the team sat down on the ground, resting or stretching. Once master Fu was done, he poured each of them a glass of milk.  
Chat examined it, then looked at the boiling pot. “What’s this for?”  
Fu laughed. “You will see. But trust me, you will need it.” He gave them each a spoon with the broth in it. “Bon appetit.”  
They shrugged, putting the spoon in their mouth. Chat swallowed, then set the glass down. “I still don’t see wh-”  
The team gagged, their faces turning a very dark shade of red. Chat snatched the glass, gulping down the whole thing, the rest following his example.  
Rena stuck out her tongue, fanning it with her hand. “That was so spicy! What was that stuff?”  
“It was a potion that will give you strength, but there are no side effects. And here,” he handed each of them a granola bar. “Eat this, you will need it.”  
Carapace examined it. “What does this do? Give you the ability to fly?”  
Master Fu gave him a confused look. “You have never seen an energy bar before.”  
Carapace blushed, and everyone laughed.  
“Well, we better get going. Thanks Master Fu.” Chat said  
“Your welcome.”  
Chat Noir gave him a two fingered salute, then ran out, followed by the rest of the gang.


	9. Realisation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you get mad at me in specific parts of the story, read the rest of the chapter, i promise you won't be disappointed!

“What are we gonna do?” Rena Rouge pondered.  
They had scouted the area, taking out as many akuma’s as possible, (about 9) and since they couldn’t do anything with the akumas, they put them in a securely sealed jar.  
“Well there's only one thing we can do. Take down Hawkmoth.” Chat said.  
The gang walked around the streets of Paris, taking down the akuma’s one buy one, adding the butterflies to the jar.most of the akuma’s they took by surprise. The ones that saw them coming yelled for backup, making the job more difficult, but they continued to fight, pulling through every time. It wasn’t until there was only 10 akuma’s left that they started to get tired.  
“Hawkmoth!” Chat yelled.  
Hawkmoth turned towards them, smiling. “I was waiting for you, it got kinda boring. Akuma’s! Attack!” the smaller akuma’s advanced, running at them full speed.  
“Rena, you take the left! Carapace, the right! Queen Bee, behind! I’ll take the front.”  
Rena ran to the left. “Okie dokie!”  
Chat Noir fought viciously. He was up against Evillustrator, Time Breaker, Guitar Villain, Reflekta, and Stormy Weather. It didn’t take long for him to finish the job. Once the butterflies were released, he places them in a plastic zip-lock bag, which he promptly placed in his pocket  
Hawkmoth stared at him in disbelief. He turned towards damsel Misfortune, whispered something in her ear, then ran out of sight. She growled, then lunged at him. The rest of the gang was by his side again, ready to fight  
Chat looked around, noticing the akuma’s circling in for a fight. “You guys fight off the akumas. As for me, i’m going to finish what I started.”  
He pulled out his baton and ran at Damsel Misfortune. She smiled, running faster towards him. He jumped, striking her with his baton, but she blocked it with her arms. He kicked at her face, but she ducked and swiped him off his feet.  
“Why don’t we play a little game of cat and mouse. You can be the mouse, i’ll be the cat!” Misfortune said, throwing her yoyo at him. They went on for minutes, the noise around them gradually falling to a whisper, only to be replaced by angrier noises of new akumas. Soon, all of the akuma’s they had faced were “resurrected”, but they didn’t dare enter their battle, and only focused on the other heros. Chat Noir and Damsel Misfortune eventually moved the fight little by little to the streets of Paris, moving close to the bakery. He faced his back towards the bakery doors, forcing her to look at it. For a moment, she stopped, staring at the bakery as if it had meaning to her, as if she remembered who she was. But that moment passed as soon as it happened. She threw her yoyo, destroying the glass of the little shop, making the walls collapse. Chat stared in horror at what she had just done, but continued fighting. Every second the fought, Chat got tired, and every second they fought, Damsel Misfortune seemed to grow stronger.  
He thought back to the voice in his head. IF SHE ACTS STRONG, YOU MUST MAKE HER WEAK.  
Oh no. he thought. She’s acting strong.  
He Looked her in the eyes. “Ladybug, please, I don’t want to hurt yo-”  
She hissed. “It’s Damsel Misfortune!”  
“I guess that’s a no.” He took a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry.”  
He gave her everything he had left in him. He punched her in the gut, in the head, in the legs, anything that she couldn’t block. She fought like a demon, blocking almost every move. It was as if she had super strength. Well, more than usual. He thought about his attacks before he did then, very briefly, but it was if she could read his mind. He would continue to kick and punch. At one point he heard a snap in her ribs. She bent over in pain, then touched her fingers to her side, slow yellow flows of light seeping into her body as he heard the sickening snap of the ribs as they reattached themselves, then she would stand up as if nothing had ever happened. Tears streamed down his eyes. They kept on fighting, the fight moving to a bridge.  
Chat Noir was reduced to sweat, tears and pain. Damsel Misfortune took this advantage, kicking him in the stomach. He groaned, rolling to the edge of the bridge. His ears rung, but he could tell that the only fight left was the one he was in.  
The former Ladybug walked up to him, putting her hands on her hips. “Lookie lookie. Looks like you lost again, chaton.”  
It took great effort, but he managed to look her in the eyes. “I won’t fight you anymore. I don’t fight my friends, especially not my partner.”  
“Goodbye Chat Noir.” she plucked off his ring, transforming him back into Adrien.  
Tears rolled down his face faster as he began to feel the real pain. “So long, Milady.”  
Right as she kicked him off the bridge, he saw a flash of light glitter off of her eyes. He watched as his friends ran after him on the bridge, screaming at Damsel Misfortune, who stood motionless as he fell. He watched as her suit returned to normal, confusion iminent on her face. He saw her look down as he hit the water, panic, fear and sorrow washing over her face as he sank to the bottom of the seine.  
He flashed back to the moment when he and Marinette first made croissants together, his smile erupting in a buttery flaky mess of a grin. He flashed back to when they answered Alya’s hurricane of questions. He remembered what Master Fu said. To increase one's ability to use their powers more than once a transformation, would mean the loss of something in the future.   
So this is what he means. Because of Hawkmoth, i’m going to die. He hit the bottom of the river, several hundred feet below the surface. He had no strength to swim, no air to last much longer. He closed his eyes, exhaling his last breath, preparing to see his mother again.

. . .

Ladybug didn’t remember anything. She only remembered Adrien sinking to the bottom of the river.  
She heard Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, and Carapace running towards her, screaming. She couldn’t believe it. No. She won’t believe it. She fell to her knees as her suit changed back to normal. Tears started streaming down her face. She opened her palm, revealing Chat Noir’s ring.  
“No. NO!” she screamed. She fell on her hands and knees, pounding her fist on the ground.  
Rena Rouge ran up to her, taking raspy breaths. “Comeone, Ladybug. It’s over.”  
She shouldered her away. “No. NO! I won’t believe it! It’s not true! He’s still alive!”  
She started pounding her fists on Rena, pushing her away, a sobbing mess.  
Queen Bee pulled at her arms, trying to bring her to her feet. She, too, had been crying. “Ladybug come on. Let’s go.”  
But she continued to struggle. “No!”  
She ran out of their grasp, jumping into the river. The river was icy cold, but there was so much adrenaline coursing through her body that she didn’t even notice. She swam, deeper and deeper and deeper, until she finally reached the body. She choked back sobs as she saw his bluish face, covered in dirt and grime. The seine was a beautiful river, but at the bottom it was covered with broken glass, rusty keys, soda cans, milk jugs, etc. his eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted. Glass shards had embed themselves under his skin, revealing countless amounts of cuts and wounds. She wrapped her arms around his torso, and started kicking upwards.  
Ladybug gasped, finally reaching the surface. She swam to the other side of the river, gently placing Adrien on the river side. She jumped up after him, immediately checking his pulse and his breath. Nothing. It was over. Adrien was gone. She cradled his head, running her fingers through his wet hair, buckets of tears streaming down her face.  
She heard a gasp behind her, and she slowly turned around. Hawkmoth was standing a few feet behind her, staring in horror at his son.  
She stood, swinging her yo yo back and forth angrily. “Look at what you did! He died because of you! Because you possessed me!” She clenched her fist, finding she still had the ring in her palm. She placed it on her finger, securing it tightly. She ran after him. “This is your fault!” She threw her yoyo at him, but he blocked. “This never would have happened if you wouldn’t have possessed me!” she struck again, cornering him into the wall. “I loved him!” Strike, block. “He was my everything!” Strike, block. “And now-now-” she fell on one knee and started sobbing, glaring at Hawkmoth. “He died trying to stop his own father from doing wrong!”  
Hawkmoth took a shaky breath. “That’s what it meant.”  
“That’s what what meant?!”  
He explained how he drank a potion giving him unlimited power, but it came with a price.   
“I thought it meant I would lose my miraculous afterwards. I possessed you, thinking you could help me. The book...the book said it would add powers to your miraculous, powers like inhuman strength, telepathy, and control overgrowth and decease. I thought if I got your miraculous, it wouldn’t matter. But I didn’t.”  
Ladybug began to cry again, calling on the attention of her friends. They ran by her side, Rena comforting her as Queen Bee and Carapace glared at Hawkmoth, making him feel small.  
“Come on, Ladybug. Let’s go.” Queen Bee seethed.  
Rena helped up Ladybug as she cradled the lifeless body of Adrien Agreste. She used her yo yo, flying to her home. None of the gang followed. They figured she needed some alone time.  
Carapace pointed his chin to Hawkmoth. “What to do, what to do.”  
Rena Rouge grinned, looking Hawkmoth in the eyes. “I know exactly what to do with him.”

. . .

Ladybug landed in her room, carefully laying down Adrien’s body on her chaise. She let go of her transformation, and collapsed over his body, crying what she thought she had no more of. She felt so much pain and sorrow coursing through out her body, she just couldn’t keep anything to herself. She was supposed to be there for him. They were partners. He was her best friend. His lavender mint scent from after showers. His blonde messy hair. His kind emerald green eyes. His award winning smile. Everything. She began to cry louder, over the loss of her partner, friend, and boyfriend.  
She kissed his forehead. “I’m so sorry Adrien. I’m...so-” she cried her heart out, eternally broken inside.  
She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find Alya, Nino and Chloe standing behind her.  
Alya held her arms out. “Come here girl.”  
Marinette collapsed in Alya’s embrace. Chloe and Nino followed, completing the group hug. Finally, the embrace ended, Alya leading Marinette over to her chair.  
“Your going to want to watch the news.” Chloe said.  
Marinette rubbed her puffy eyes, replying with her broken hearted voice. “Why should I watch the news right now.”  
Nino placed a hand on her shoulder. “Trust us. It’s worth it.”  
She logged into her computer, immediately regretting her decision. Her background was of her and Chat Noir kissing in the sunset. She had promised chat she would give Alya had taken the picture. It was one of the best moments of her life. She would have smiled at the memory, except for the fact that he would never be able to see it. She choked back sobs as she shakily clicked on the news. Her computer exploded with notifications of the ladyblog, newsletters, and what had gone down today. There was a picture of Adrien and a mugshot of Gabriel Agreste. They news reporter was talking about the loss of one of their heros, and how his own father had killed him.  
“-Gabriel Agreste was found guilty and was taken into custody by three of Paris’s heros, with the loss of Ladybug at the scene. It turns out that Agreste was hawkmoth all along, until recently when Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee removed the miraculous from him, taking it into hiding.”  
She turned off her computer. “Good. But he deserves worse.”  
Alya and Nino exchanged looks. “We know it probably isn’t the best time, but we need to know. What did Hawkmoth say to you?”  
Marinette was silent for a good 5 minutes before answering. “He said some crap, something about powers-”  
“Woah, hold up.” Chloe put her hands up. “Powers? What do you mean ‘powers’?”  
“I don’t know.” she sniffed. “He said since he controlled me, it gave me powers, added onto my miraculous, yada yada, yada.”  
Alya put a hand on her shoulder, making her face them. “Can you tell us what powers you have?”  
She sighed. “I don’t know. Something about inhuman strength, telepathy, and control overgrowth and decease, flight.”  
She thought for a moment. “Well, telepathy means you can read thoughts-”  
“Dude, so cool.” Nino interrupted.  
Alya flashed him a look. “-inhuman strength, your really strong, with and without the suit. Hmmm, maybe now you’re even stronger with the suit on than before. Flight, you can fly.”  
“Well that explains the wings.” Chloe said.  
Marinette looked at her, her interest suddenly peaked. “Wait, what wings?”  
“When you changed back, your outfit had big long wings.”  
“Wicked!” Nino exclaimed.  
Alya shot him another look. “The only thing i’m not sure about is the growth and decease thing.” she went onto her phone for a few minutes, the read aloud. “This is what it says about life and death on google. ‘In earlier times, the sovereign had the right of life and death over his subjects. This "right of life" was effectively a "right of death." ... Sovereign power in general exercised itself as a form of "deduction": it consisted in the power to take things—life, taxes, property, privileges—away from its subjects.’ hmmm. That’s weird. Maybe the power you now have is something like this, just a little bit more modern…”  
Chloe gasped. “What if it means you can bring people back to life! That means you could bring Adrien back!”  
Marinette looked at her doubtfully. “I don’t think that’s what it means.”  
She grabbed Marinette’s shoulders. “You have to try.”  
A tear rolled down her cheek, but she got up anyway. She walked over to Adrien and hovered her hands over his chest. “Ok, uh, magical force of...life? Heal!” Nothing happened.  
Alya rolled her eyes. “No, you have to concentrate. Concentrate on what you want to happen.”  
Marinette tried again, and this time put all of her sorrow, pain, grief, and most importantly love, into her thoughts. She squeezed her eyes closed as she thought about Adrien, alive and moving, laughing and smiling, having the time of his life. She felt her hand warm up, and when she looked down, her hand was glowing. She gasped as the cuts in his body healed without a scar, the color coming back to his skin, and his body warming up. When the glow faded, she knelt down next to him, running her fingers in his hai. Dry. she felt his clothing. They were dry too.  
“A-Adrien?” she whispered.  
There was a moment of silence, then he gasped for breath his eyes flying open.  
Tears flew down Marinette’s cheeks. She tackled him in a huge hug. “Your alive!”

. . .

Adrien opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a blue sky. He blink again, listening very closely. There was no noise, not even traffic. He sat up to find he was on a green hill, laying in a patch of flowers. He looked down at his clothing. Everything was white, even his shoes. He walked around the streets of Paris, but no one was there. It was so peaceful, it was like he was dreaming.   
Adrien strolled along the banks of the seine, when he saw a woman sitting on a bench.  
“Um, hello.” he said, giving a shy wave.  
The woman turned to him and smiled. “Hello Adrien.”  
He gasped, wonder washing over his face. He recognized this woman. He didn’t know   
how she was alive. Tears gathered in his eyes.  
“M-Mom?” he asked.  
The woman smiled warmly. “Yes. that’s me.”  
Adrien smiled, the tears streaking down hi face. He tackled his mother in a hug. He hugged her for what seemed like hours, then they broke apart.   
He wiped his eyes, and smiled. “How, how are you alive? Dad said you died years ago.”  
She tilted her head, giving him a confused look. “What do you mean, ‘how are you alive’? Haven’t you found it a little strange that there’s no one around for miles?”  
He nodded. “Ya, what’s up with that?”  
“Sweety, were not alive, were dead.”  
Those last words hit him like a hurricane. The smile fell from his face. “What?” he looked down. “No, no. I-I can’t be dead. Marinette needs me! Marinette...I can't live without her! She…” He let out a small gasp. “She killed me.”  
Emilie gasped. “Why would you want to go back if that girl killed you?”  
“Because, she was being controlled! I have to go back! I...I love her.”  
Emilie placed a hand on top of his. When Adrien looked up, he saw that she was smiling. “I was hoping you would say that. As much as I would love it if you would stay, you have to go. Your time has not come. I have been watching you since I left. You two make a good couple. Now go. Save Marinette.”  
Adrien smiled, then kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. I’ll be seeing you again.”  
He ran off, far away, all the way to the Eiffel Tower. He sat down, admiring the Quiet city before him. Not long after he sat down, he got a little tingly feeling in his gut. It was warm, and spreading quickly. His arms started to feel warm. He looked down in confusion, and his arms were glowing. They were pure gold and they were glowing! Parts of his arms, legs, head, and shoulders started to float skywards. Fear danced in his eyes.  
He laughed, looking skyward, but keeping his eyes closed. He felt joy and relief course throughout his body. He was going to see Marinette again. His loving, funny, kind, brave Marinette. He laid down, preparing himself for life.  
Suddenly, he couldn’t breath. His mouth was wide open, but no air entered his lung. He panicked, suddenly feeling dizzy, when out of nowhere, he gasped, his eyes flashing open  
He felt something on his chest, knocking all of the wind out of him. He lifted his head, to find Marinette on top of him, squeezing him tightly as she cried on his chest.  
“M-Marinette,” he said weakly. “I can’t breath.”  
She sat up, tears flooding out of her eyes. “Ya. ya, s-sorry. Sorry. I’m just so relieved that your alive.” she hugged him again, sitting up afterwards.  
He looked around, to see that his friends, Chloe, Alya, and Nino were also there. The girls were full on sobbing, and Nino had tears in his eyes.  
“Dude.” Nino choked out. He lightly punched Adrien in the shoulder. “Don’t ever do that again.”  
Everyone crowded around him, surrounding him in a group hug. The tears were thick and heavy, coating everyone with salty sorrow.  
They finally parted, everyone wiping their eyes. Adrien looked around at them, smiling as if nothing had happened.  
Marinette kissed Adrien, then smiled. “Welcome home, Adrien.”


	10. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long for the next chapter! things have been crazy with Lacrosse, track, and a bunch of other stuff. please enjoy, and comment if you think I should add one more chapter about when Marinette and Adrien have kids!

Adrien walked into the police station, and sat down. Marinette was with him, but thought it would be best if she stayed outside and waited. Adrien walked down a hallway, and into another room. Along the wall were some chairs, and a phone for everyone. He sat down in one of the chairs, and picked up the phone. In front of him, there was a glass wall, and in the opposite side of the glass wall was a man. He wore an orange jumpsuit, black boots, and a pair of black glasses. He too, picked up a phone.

“Hello Adrien,” the man said.

Adrien took in a deep breath, then stammered out, “H-hello. Hello father.”

They sat in silence for a while. Since the “accident”, the police hadn’t let him see his father until today, 6 months later; a precaution, they said.

Finally Adrien couldn’t stand it anymore. “Why did you do it?”

Gabriel looked imploringly at his son. “Do...what?”

Adrien leaned forward. “You know perfectly well what I mean. Why did you do it,” he gestured at his clothes. “All of his. Being Hawkmoth. Akumatizing Marinette, and forcing her to kill me! The only reason I’m alive is because of…” his voice broke, and he took in a deep shaky breath. “I’m only alive because of mom.” A tear made its way to his chin. “Because of her, I was able to live again, to have another chance. But now…” he opened his mouth for words, but no sound came out. He looked down, pondering his few minutes with his mom.

He heard panting in front of him, and he looked up to see that Gabriel Agreste, his cold hearted father, front of the cover designer, was crying.

He looked up, and softly spoke into the phone.

“I did it so we could be a family again. I’ve missed your mother so much. So so much. So, I...I tried to get her back.”

One of the guards rested a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “Sorry son. Times up. You can come back next week, or send him a letter.”

“Goodbye father.” 

Adrien hung up the phone, thanking the guard for letting him speak to his father, and walked outside to meet Marinette.

She looked at him with kind eyes. “How did it go?”

He tried for a smile, but she saw right through him.

She wrapped her arms around him, holding him in a sweet embrace. “I’m so sorry.”

He hugged her back, another tear streaking his skin.

The part of Marinette’s body that touched Adrien’s lit up in a faint pink hew. Immediately he felt better, love and strength coursing through him.

He breathed out. “How are you doing that?”

She stroked his hair. “Cool huh? Ever since...that day, it’s like the powers never stop coming. So far, the powers I've collected since then are the power to spread love through contact, I can make empathy links with someone - basically I will be able to communicate with that one person mentally no matter how far apart we are -  a lie detector - I can only use that one once a week though - emotional detection, the power to make things happen - again, only once every 2 days - and I can put thoughts and images into someone’s head. All I have to do is imagine what I want to transfer, who i want to send it to, and bam! Sent.”

Adrien chuckled. “That’s pretty cool. This will help a lot with robbery’s, interrogations, and aku-” he stopped, having realized his mistake. “Well, it  _ would _ have helped with akuma attacks.”

Marinette sighed. “Yeah. Alright, let’s get home.”

This went on for years, Marinette waiting for him while he spoke to his father. Whether it was rainy, windy, snowy or hot, she always waited for him, and he never missed a trip.

By the time Adrien and Marinette we’re out of high school,  they had been dating for 2 years. Alya and Nino got married a few months after high school, and not long after, Adrien and Marinette got married. Adrien’s best man was Nino, and Marinette’s bridesmaids were Alya and Chloe.

“You take good care of my daughter, you here?” Tom Dupain-Cheng asked.

Adrien chuckled as he closed the car door for Marinette. “I will. Thank you, for everything, especially for giving me your blessing.”

Tom smiled. “No problem son. Your a good kid, perfect for Marinette.”

Adrien smiled. “Thank you.”

He hopped in the car, and kissed Marinette on the cheek. “Where does the fine lady want to go?”

She giggled, reciprocating his tone. “Anywhere the knight in shining armor takes her.”


End file.
